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THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY, 

Princeton,  N.  J. 


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DISSERTATI0T5 


PHOPIIECIES, 

THAT   HAVE   BEEN   FULFILLED,    ARE   NOW   FULFILLING^ 
OR   WILL  HEREAFTER  BE   FULFILLED, 


RELATIVE    TO   THE 


GREAT  PERIOD   OF  1260  YEARS; 

THE  PAPAL  AND  MOHAMMEDAN  APOSTACIES  ; 

THE  TYRANNICAL  REIGN   OF  ANTICHRIST,    OR  THE  INFIDEL 

POWER  ; 

AND 

THE  RESTORATION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

TO  WHICH  IS  ADDED, 

AN  APPENDIX. 


BY  THE  REV.  GEORGE  STANLEY  FABER,  B.  D. 

VICAR  OF  STOCKTOJr-UPON-TEES. 


FIRST  AMERICAN   FROM  THE  SECOND  LONDON  EDITION. 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES. 


"  Shut  up  the  Words,  and  seal  the  Book,  even  to  the  time  of  the  end  :  many  shall  run 
to  and  fro,  and  knowledge  shall  be  increased."     Dan.  xii.  4. 


BOSTON  : 
PUBLISHED  BY  ANDREWS  AND  CUMMINGS. 


GRBENOUGH  AND  SIEBBINS,  PRINIERS, 
1808. 


V 


HONOURABLE  AND  RIGHT  REVEREND  FATHER  IN  GOD, 

SHUTE  BARRINGTON,  LL.  D. 

LORD    BISHOP    OF    DURHAM. 
MY  LORD, 

THE  kindness  which  I  have  uniformly  experien- 
ced, particularly  in  a  late  instance,  from  your  Lordship, 
encourages  me  to  request  permission  to  place  the  fol- 
lowing Work  under  your  protection. 

It  treats  of  a  subject  peculiarly  interesting  to  every 
serious  Protestant  :  for  the  famous  period  of  1260  pro- 
phetic days,  so  frequently  mentioned  by  Daniel  and  St. 
John,  comprehends  the  tyrannical  reign  of  those  three 
great  opponents  of  the  Gospel,  Popery,  Mohammedism, 
and  Infidelity.  This  period  indeed  may  not  improperly 
be  styled  the  permitted  hour  of  the  poxs^ers  of  darkness  ; 
since  the  true  Church  is  represented  as  being  in  an  af- 
flicted and  depressed  state  during  the  whole  of  its  con- 
tinuance, and  since  its  expiration  will  be  marked  by  a 
signal  display  of  the  judgments  of  God  upon  his  ene- 
mies and  by  the  commencement  of  a  new  and  happy 
order  of  things. 

In  the  subject  which  I  have  chosen  so  many  eminent 
expositors  have  preceded  me,  that  I  fear  my  choice  of  it 
alone  may  render  me  liable  to  the  charge  either  of  need- 
less repetition,  or  of  unwarrantable  presumption.  Your 
Lordship  however,  I  am  confident,  will  not  prejudge  me 
from  the  mere  statement  of  my  subject  :    and  the  can- 


dour,  which  I  anticipate  from  my  venerable  Diocesan,  I 
feel  myself  justified  in  claiming  from  the  Public. 

In  fact,  had  I  nothing  new  to  offer  upon  the  subject, 
the  discussing  of  it  afresh  would  have  been  plainly  su- 
perfluous ;  but  an  attentive  examination  of  the  writings 
of  Daniel  and  St.  John  has  led  me  to  think,  that  in  some 
points  my  predecessors  have  partially  erred,  and  that  in 
others  they  have  been  altogether  mistaken.  In  the  in- 
terpretation of  Prophecy  knowledge  is  undoubtedly  pro- 
gressive. The  predictions  of  Scripture,  extending  as  they 
do  from  the  earliest  periods  to  the  consummation  of  all 
things,  although  they  be  gradually  opened  partly  by  the 
hand  of  time  and  partly  by  human  labour  undertaken  in 
humble  dependence  upon  the  divine  aid,  are  yet  necessa- 
rily in  some  measure  a  sealed  book,  even  to  the  time  of  the 
end.  As  that  time  approaches,  we  may  expect,  agreeably 
to  the  angel's  declaration  to  Daniel,  that  mmiij  will  run  to 
and  fro,  and  that  hioicledge  will  he  micrpaRed.  Hence  it 
was  observed  by  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  that  "  amongst  the  in- 
terpreters of  the  last  age  there  is  scarce  one  of  note,  who 
hath  not  made  some  discovery  worth  knowing."  Noth- 
ing however  requires  so  much  caution  and  prudence,  so 
much  hesitation  and  circumspection,  as  an  attempt  to 
unfold  these  deep  mysteries  of  God.  An  intemperate 
introduction  of  new  interpretations  is  highly  dangerous 
and  mischievous  :  because  it  has  a  natural  tendency  to 
unsettle  the  minds  of  the  careless  and  the  wavering,  and 
is  apt  to  induce  them  hastily  to  take  up  the  preposterous 
opinion  that  there  can  be  no  certainty  in  the  exposition 
of  Prophecy.  On  these  grounds  I  have  ever  been  per- 
suaded, that  a  commentator  discharges  his  duty  but  very 
imperfectly,  if,  when  he  advances  a  new  interpretation 
of  any  prophecy  that  has  been  already  interpreted,  he 


satisfies  himself  with  merely  urging  in  favour  of  his 
scheme  the  most  plausible  arguments  that  he  has  been 
able  to  invent.  Of  every  prediction  there  may  be  many 
erroneous  expositions,  but  there  can  only  be  one  that  is 
right.  It  is  not  enough  therefore  for  a  commentator  to 
fortify  with  elaborate  ingenuity  his  own  system.  Before 
he  can  reasonably  expect  it  to  be  adopted  by  others,  he 
must  shew  likewise,  that  the  expositions  of  his  prede- 
cessors are  erroneous  in  those  points  wherein  he  differs 
from  them.  Such  a  mode  of  writing  as  this  may  un- 
doubtedly expose  him  to  the  charge  of  captiousness  : 
it  will  likewise  unavoidably  increase  the  size  of  his 
Work  ;  and  may  possibly  weary  those  readers,  who  dis- 
like the  trouble  of  thoroughly  examining  a  subject  : 
but  it  will  be  found  to  be  the  only  way,  in  which  there 
is  even  a  probability  of  attaining  to  the  truth.  This 
plan  I  have  adopted  :  and  it  has  at  least  been  of  infinite 
use  to  myself.  It  has  at  once  compelled  me,  in  the 
course  of  writing  and  revising  the  present  Dissertation, 
to  relinquish,  as  utterly  untenable,  many  opinions  which 
I  had  once  adopted  ;  and  it  has  confirmed  me  in  adher- 
ing to  those,  which  I  have  retained.  In  short,  it  en- 
ables me  to  say,  that  not  a  single  new  interpretation  is 
here  advanced  without  having  been  previously  subject- 
ed to  the  severest  scrutiny.  Whatever  would  not  bear 
the  test  of  all  the  objections,  which  1  was  able  to  alledge 
against  it  myself,  has  been  rejected,  as  still  less  being 
able  to  bear  the  test  of  those  which  others  might  al- 
ledge. 

Flattering  as  the  countenance  of  the  great  may  be, 
that  of  the  good  as  well  as  great  is  much  more  rational- 
ly satisfactory.  Your  Lordship's  character  can  be 
heightened  by  no  testimony  of  mine.     Yet  1  may  be 


allowed  to  say,  that  the  favours  which  I  have  received 
from  you,  have  been  rendered  doubly  valuable,  both  by 
the  manner  in  which  they  have  been  conferred,  and  by 
the  recollection  of  the  hand  that  conferred  them. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be. 

My  Lord, 

Your  Lordship's  much  obliged  and 

dutiful  humble  Servant, 

GEORGE  STANLEY  FABER. 

Stockton-upon-  TeeSy 
June  29,  1805. 


i 


PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION, 


THE  work,  which  is  here  offered  to  the  Public, 
is  founded  upon  the  three  following  very  simple  princi- 
ples. 

1.  To  assign  to  each  prophetic  symbol  its  proper  defi- 
nite meaning,  and  never  to  vary  from  that  meaning  ; 

2.  To  allow  no  interpretation  of  a  prophecy  to  be  valid, 
except  the  prophecy  agree,  in  every  particular,  with  the 
event  to  which  it  is  supposed  to  relate  ; 

3.  And  to  deny,  that  any  link  of  a  chronological  pro- 
phecy is  capable  of  receiving  its  accomplishment  in  more 
than  one  event. 

If  we  examine  the  predictions  of  Daniel  and  St,  John 
agreeably  to  these  principles,  we  shall  find,  that  two  great 
enemies  of  the  Gospel,  Popery  and  Mohammedism^  are 
described  as  commencing  their  tyrannical  career  together 
at  the  beginning  of  a  certain  period  which  comprehends 
1260  years^  and  as  perishing  together  at  the  end  of  it: 
that,  towards  the  close  of  this  period,  a  third  power  is  in- 
troduced ;  whose  characteristic  marks  are  a  total  disre- 
gard of  all  religion,  an  impious  determination  to  do  ac- 
cording to  his  will,  and  an  open  profession  of  absolute 
atheism  blended  nevertheless  with  the  worship  of  a  cer- 
tain foreign  god  and  other  tutelary  deities  whom  his  fa- 
thers never  knew  :  that  this  last  power  is  likewise  destin- 
ed to  be  destroyed  at  the  end  of  the  l'?60  years  :  that  he 
will  previously  unite  himself,  for  political  reasons,  with 
Poperij  :  that  the  stage  of  their  joint  overthrow  will  be 
Palestine:  and  that,  when  the  period  of  1260  years  is 
completed,  the  restoration  of  the  Jews  will  commence. 
All  these  matters  may,  I  think,  be  clearly  deduced  from 
prophecy  :  and  the  actual  completion  of  many  predictions 
relative  to  them  afford  us  ample  warrant  for  concluding, 
that  the  rest  will  likewise  be  accomplished  in  God's  own 
good  season. 


The  present  awful  state  of  the  world  naturally  leads 
all  serious  men  to  search  the  Scriptures  :  and  the  atten- 
tion of  more  than  one  modern  writer  has  been  laudably 
directed  to  the  elucidation  of  those  prophecies,  which 
either  have  been  fulfilled,  or  are  now  fulfilling.  Those, 
who  have  considered  the  subject  most  at  large,  are,  1  be- 
lieve, Mr.  Whitaker,  Dr.  Zouch,  Mr.  Kett,  and  Mr.  Gal- 
loway.* Mr.  Whitaker  and  Mr.  Zouch,  with  some  ex- 
ceptions, have  undertaken  to  defend  the  scheme  of  in- 
terpretation adopted  by  Mr.  Mede  and  Bp.  Newton  : 
while  Mr.  Kett  and  INIr.  Galloway,  though  they  differ 
from  each  other  in  many  points,  have  avowedly  attempt- 
ed to  establish  a  new  scheme  of  interpretation. 

1.  Although  1  am  not  able  to  assent  to  several  of  Mr. 
Whitaker's  opinions,  most  sincerely  can  1  recommend  his 
Comment  a  nj  on  the  Revelation  to  the  attention  of  every 
protestant,  particularly  every  English  protestant.  At  the 
present  juncture,  when  Popery  ov\ce  more  begins  to  rear 
its  hydra  head,  a  full  statement  of  its  abominable  princi- 
ples was  peculiarly  seasonable.  This  has  been  most  sat- 
isfactorily executed  by  Mr.  Whitaker :  but  he  appears  to 
me  at  the  same  time  to  have  exceeded  his  commission, 
in  branding  the  Pupacif  with  the  title  of  Antichrist. 
Many  indeed  and  wonderfully  explicit  are  the  prophe- 
cies, which  describe  the  detestable  cruelties  and  unholy 
superstitions  of  that  great  Apostacij  ;  which  teach  us 
the  precise  duration  of  its  persecuting  tyranny  ;  which 
foretell  its  union  with  rehelWous  Infide/iti/  ;  which  point 
out  both  the  place  and  manner  of  its  destruction  :  but  I 
have  not  yet  been  able  to  discover  upon  what  scriptural 
grounds  the  name  of  Antichrist  has  been  so  generally 
applied  to  it.  St.  John  is  the  only  inspired  writer  who 
uses  the  term  ;  and  nothing  that  he  says  relative  to  it, 
affords  us  any  warrant  for  conferring  it  upon  the  Papaci/. 
"  He  is  Antichrist,  that  denieth  the  Father  and  the  Son  :" 
the  Church  of  Rome  never  denied  either  the  Father  or 

*  To  these  I  might  have  added  Archdeacon  Woodhouse  and  Mr.  Bicheno  ;  but  I 
had  not  read  their  writings  at  the  time  vvlien  the  first  edition  of  this  work  was  pub- 
lished. In  the  present  edition,  those  of  Mr.  Bicheno  are  occasionally  animadverted 
upon  in  the  notes  :  but  the  scheme  of  the  Archdeacon  possesses  so  much  unity  of 
design,  that  I  found  it  more  convenient  to  consider  it  altogether  apart  in  an  ap- 
pendix. 


the  Son  :  therefore  tJie  Church  of  Rome  cannot  be  the 
Antichrist  intended  by  St.  John.  x\s  for  the  identity  of 
Antichrist  and  the  little  horn  of  the  Roman  beast,  it 
seems  to  me  to  have  been  rather  taken  for  granted,  than 
proved. 

Valuable  however  as  Mr.  Whitaker's  Commentary  is 
in  many  respects,  he  is  guilty  of  one  inconsistency  which 
must  not  be  passed  over  unnoticed.  While  he  asserts, 
that  he  gives  no  interpretation  of  a  symbol  but  what 
may  be  justified  by  some  text  of  Scripture,  he  very  un- 
warrantably explains  the  prophecies  of  the  Apocalypse 
sometimes  fgnrativelij  and  sometimes  literally.  Thus, 
for  instance,  the  effusion  oi  the  first,  the  fourth,  and  Me 
fifth,  vials  he  interprets  figuratively  ;  and  yet  to  the  ef- 
fusion of  the  second  -dud  the  third  he  affixes  an  absolutely 
literal  meaning,  supposing  those  tico  vials  to  describe  a 
series  of  wars  carried  on  both  by  sea  and  by  land.  Now 
it  is  obvious,  that,  if  we  interpret  these  predictions  some- 
times figuratively  and  sometimes  literally,  we  involve 
them  in  the  same  indecision  and  uncertainty,  as  if  we 
apply  a  symbol  sometimes  to  one  thing  and  sometimes  to 
another  :  for,  if  the  mode  of  interpretation  is  in  every 
particular  instance  to  be  left  to  the  option  of  the  com- 
mentator, who  shall  draw  the  line  between  the  literal 
2ind  the  figurative  prophecies  of  the  Apocalypse  ?  The 
whole  book,  excepting  those  very  few  passages  which 
are  avowedly  descriptive,  must  be  understood  either  lite- 
rally throughout  or  figuratively  throughout:  otherwise 
it  will  be  utterly  impossible  to  ascertain  the  meaning  de- 
signed to  be  conveyed. 

The  whole  of  the  present  Dissertation  was  written, 
and  the  corrections  of  it  were  nearly  completed,  before 
1  had  perused  Mr.  Whitaker's  former  publication,  intitled 
A  general  and  connected  vieza  of  the  prophecies.  1  there 
found,  what  gave  me  no  small  satisfaction,  that  the  mere 
force  of  evidence  had  led  two  writers,  between  whom  no 
communication  had  ever  passed,  to  adopt  the  same  opin- 
ion relative  to  the  litt'e  horn  of  the  Macedonian  he-goat, 
and  the  proper  method  of  ascertaining  the  date  of  the 
\'260  years.  Unconnected  as  we  have  been  with  each 
other,  we  have  naturally  treated  the  subject  with  some 

VOL.1.  2 


10 

degree  ot  difference  :  and,  while  I  assent  in  the  general 
to  Mr.  Whiiaker's  opinion  on  these  points,  1  feel  myself 
compelled  to  protest  against  his  idea,  that  any  of  the 
numbers  of  Daniel  and  St.  John  may  be  considered  as 
round  numbers.  The  perfect  accuracy,  with  which  some 
of  them  have  been  already  filled  up,  affords  the  best  war- 
rant for  believing  that  the  rest  will  likewise  be  filled  up 
with  equal  accuracy.  Indeed  the  very  notion  of  «  round 
number  is  irreconcileable  with  that  of  «  dejinite  and  spe- 
cific number.  Hence  1  think,  that  Mr.  Whitaker's  at- 
tempt to  harmonize  the  number  mentioned  in  the  eighth 
chapter  of  Daniel,  with  the  date  which  he  rightly  assigns 
to  the  1260  ijears^  by  adopting  the  reading  of  the  Seven- 
ty, entirely  fails  of  success,  because  the  calculation  pro- 
duces 2404  years^  instead  of  2400  years.,  which  it  ought 
to  have  produced  had  it  been  founded  upon  just  princi- 
ples even  were  the  reading  of  the  Seventy  the  genuine 
reading,*  A  similar  train  of  ideas  had  once  led  me  to 
adopt  this  very  hypothesis  of  Mr.  Whitaker  ;  but  the 
same  reason,  which  forced  me  to  erase  it  from  my  ovi^n 
work,  forces  me  also  to  reject  it  in  his.  On  the  same 
grounds,  his  opinion,  that  the  hohj  citij  mentioned  in  the 
eleventh  chapter  of  the  Revelation  is  the  literal  city  of 
Jerusalem^  will  be  found  equally  untenable,  even  inde- 
pendent of  other  objections  to  which  it  is  liable.  The 
taking  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Persians  in  the  year  16 14, 
can  never  be  made  to  synchronize  with  the  delivering  of 
the  saints  into  the  hand  of  the  Papal  little  horn  in  the 
tjear  606  ;  nor  is  it  to  me  at  least  at  all  satisfactory  to  be 
told,  that  the  nearest  round  number.,  which  will  include 
the  whole  time  intervening  from  the  year  6 14  io  the  year 
1866,  will  be  1260.f  Since  the  saints  are  to  be  given 
into  the  hand  o^  the  little  horn  during  the  precise  period 
of  \'2{^0  years,  and  since  the  holy  city  is  to  be  trodden 
under  foot  by  the  Gentiles  during  the  self-same  period 
of  42  prophetic  montlts  ;  the  reign  of  the  little  horn  and 
the  treading  o^  the  holy  citij  under  foot  must  be  exactly 
commensurate.  Consequently,  if  the  saints  were  first 
given  into  the  hand  of  the  little  horn  in  the  year  606, 

•  General  View,  p.  272-^277.  f  Ibid. 


11 

the  holy  city  must  have  begun  to  be  trodden  under  foot 
in  that  same  year.     But  the  literal  Jerusalem  did   not 
then  begin  to  be  trodden  under  foot  by  the  literal  Gen- 
tiles*    Therefore  the  literal  Jerusalem  cannot  be  meant 
hy  the  holy  city;  nor  the  Christians  of  Jerusalem  sur- 
rounded ziHth  the  abominations  of  Mohammedism  by  the 
fzvo  witnesses.     Mr.   Whitaker  seems  to  allow  that  this 
prophecy  may  be  understood  in  a  Jigurative  sense,  as  it 
is  by   Bp.  Newton,  no  less  than  in   a  literal  one  :  T,  on 
the  other  hand,  will  venture  explicitly  to  assert,   that  it 
is  incapable  of  any   other  than  a  Jigurative  sense.       In 
short,  in  the  self-same  year  that  the  saints  were  first  de- 
livered into   the  hand  of  the  little  horn,  the  mystic  holy 
city  began   to  be  trodden   under  foot  by  a  new  race  of 
idolaters,  the  mystic  zvitnesses  began  to  prophesy  in  sack- 
cloth, the  mystic  z<Doman  fled  into  the  wilderness,  and  the 
ancient  pagan  Roman   beast  revived.     So  again  :  in  the 
self-same  year ^  at  the  termination  oi  the  1260  days,  that 
series  of  events  will  commence,  by  which  the  kingdom 
shall  be   given   unto   the  saints,   the  power  of  the  tittle 
horn  shall  be  destroyed,  the  sanctuary  shall  be  cleansed, 
and  the  beast  shall  be  slain.     These  synchronisms  must 
ever  be  kept  in  view  :  and,  unless  they  be  absolutely  per- 
fect, they  are  in  effect  no  synchronisms .    A  failure  o{four 
years  or  of  eight  years,  as  in  the  two  cases   which  have 
been  last  discussed,  destroys  a  synchronism  no  less  com- 
pletely than  a  failure  of  as  many  centuries. 

2.  Dr.  Zouch's  Work  on  Prophecy  is  liable  to  many 
of  the  same  objections  as  the  two  works  of  Mr.  Whit- 
aker :  but  it  deserves  the  same  commendation  and  at- 
tention from  the  protestant  reader,  on  account  of  its  se- 
vere though  just  censures  of  Popery.  Differing  as  1  do 
very  essentially  from  Dr.  Zouch  in  many  points,  I  with 
pleasure  acknowledge  my  obligation  to  him  for  the  in- 
terpretation of  the  apocalyptic  image  of  the  beast,  which 
1  have  adopted  in  the  present  work  :  an  interpretation 
so  simple,  so  natural,  so  perfectly  according  both  with 
the  text  and  with  the  event,  so  little  liable  to  any  rea- 

*fln  strictness  of  speech  iU  literal  Jerusalem  began  to  be  trodden  under  foot  long 
before,  even  in  the  year  70 ;  so  that  Mr.  Whitaker's  scheme  is  untenable  either  way, 
See  Luke  xxi.  24.  which  can  have  no  relation  to  Rev.  xi.  a. 


1^ 

sonable  objection,  that  I  cannot  but  wonder  how  it  came 
to  be  overlooked  both  by  Mr.  Mede,  Sir  Isaac  Newton, 
and  Bp.  Newton. 

Mr.  Kett's  History  the  Interprefer  of  Prophecy^  and 
Mr.  Galloway's  Commentarif  on  the  Revelation^  I  have 
read  with  much  attention  :  but  1  have  risen  from  the 
perusal  of  them  unconvinced.  Both  of  these  respect- 
able authors  appear  to  me  to  have  fallen  into  several 
considerable  errors  ;  although  the  general  idea,  that 
many  recent  events  are  foretold  by  the  inspired  writers, 
is,  I  think,  well  founded. 

3.  Mr.  Kett  has  involved  the  beautifully  simple,  and 
chronologically  accurate,  prophecies  of  Daniel  in  much 
needless  confusion,  by  his  scheme  of  ascribing  to  the 
same  prediction  a  primartf  and  a  secondary,  and  some- 
times even  a  three-fold  diUd  a /o?^r^/G^,  accomplishment. 
Had  he  more  fully  considered  the  nature  of  chronologi- 
cal \iXO\i\iec\- ,  he  would  not  have  fallen  into  this  mistake. 
Whatever  may  be  the  case  with  insulated  predictions,  it  is 
physically  impossible  that  a  chronological  one  can  admit 
of  more  than  a  single  completion.  The  only  difference 
between  a  connected  series  oj"  chronological  prophecies, 
and  a  regular  historij,  is  this  :  a  series  of  strictly  chro' 
nological  prophecies  is  a  prospective  detail  of  successive 
future  events  ;  a  history  is  a  retrospective  detail  of  suc- 
cessive past  events.  As  well  therefore  might  we  suppose, 
that,  when  a  history  relates  07ie  circumstance,  it  ultimate- 
ly means  another  ;  as  expect  to  find,  in  a  chronological 
prophecij,  what  Mr.  Kett  terms  double  links  of  accom- 
plishment. The  thing  in  both  cases  is  equally  impossi- 
ble. The  very  circumstance  of  a  prophecy  being  a 
chronological  one  excludes  every  idea  of  a  ti<so-fold 
completion.  And,  when  it  is  further  recollected,  that 
Daniel  more  than  once  connects  his  predictions  with 
certain  specific  numbers  of  years,  it  will  appear  yet  more 
evidently,  that  Mr.  Kett's  system  is  perfectly  untenable. 

4.  The  preceding  error  cannot  be  charged  upon  Mr. 
Galloway  :  but,  although  he  escapes  this  fault,  he  is  re- 
peatedly guilty  of  another  ;  1  mean  the  zvant  of  a  strict 
adherence  to  unitij  of  sipnbolical  interpretation.  L'  a 
symbol  may  signify  one  thing  in  oie  part  of  a  prophecy, 


13 

and  another  thing  in  another  part,  there  never  can  be 
even  any  approximation  to  certainty  in  explaining  an 
hiernglyphicai  prediction.  The  v\  hole  must  be  mere 
vague  conjecture  :  for  a  prophecy,  dehvered  in  symbols 
which  admit  of  no  specific  definition,  may  safely  bid  de- 
fiance to  the  most  elaborate  efforts  of  the  most  acute 
commentator.  This  injudicious  method  of  exposition 
has,  I  am  persuaded,  excited  a  greater  degree  of  preju- 
dice against  every  attempt  to  explain  the  writings  of 
Daniel  and  St.  John,  than  any  other  cause  whatsoever. 
It  has  given  a  handle  to  the  ignorant  and  the  irreligious 
to  represent  these  portions  of  Scripture  as  altogether  un- 
inlelligible  :  whereas  figurative  language  is  undoubtedly 
as  plain  as  any  mere  literal  language,  provided  only  the 
symbols  of  which  it  is  composed  be  accurately  and  de- 
finitely understood  ;  and  for  the  right  understanding  of 
them  Scripture  itself  furnishes  a  key. 

Besides  the  preceding  general  objections  to  the  re- 
spective schemes  of  Mr.  Kett  and  Mr.  Galloway,  1  have 
m-any  particular  ones  to  their  application  of  certain  pro- 
phecies both  of  Daniel  and  St.  John  to  the  tremendous 
infidel  power  of  France  ;  a  power,  which  nevertheless  I 
cannot  refrain  from  esteeming  the  long  expected  Antichrist . 
But  1  will  not  anticipate  the  observations  which  will  ap- 
pear with  more  propriety  in  the  body  of  my  work.  For 
the  present,  suffice  it  to  say,  that  I  am  not  conscious 
of  ever  having  been  guilty  of  the  worse  than  childish 
vanity  of  introducing  a  new  exposition  merely  because 
it  is  a  new  one.  The  Scriptures  contain  subjects  much 
too  solemn  to  be  trifled  with  :  and  a  commentator  upon 
the  prophecies  ought  never  to  displace  any  interpreta- 
tion of  his  predecessors,  without  first  assigning  very 
weighty  reasons  for  it. 

With  regard  to  the  1260  prophetic  days^  I  have  fol- 
lowed the  most  usual  interpretation,  which  supposes 
them  to  be  1260  natural  or  solar  years.  Mr.  Fleming 
indeed  is  of  opinion,  that,  although  these  prophetic  days 
be  doubtless  \2(^0  years,  yet  they  are  1260  years,  each 
consisting  of  no  more  than  360  natural  days  ;  because 
each  great  prophetic  year  contains,  not  36o  years,  but 
/Only  360  years.     Hence  he  argues,  that  the  1260  years, 


14 

being  years  consisting  of  only  360  natural  days  each,  are 
in  reality  no  more  than  1242  solar  years  ;  and  that  they 
must  be  estimated  as  such  in   all   computations  that  are 
made  respecting  them.*     Independent  however  of  the 
confusion  introduced  by  such  a  mode  of  reckoning  (for, 
would  we  be  perfectly  exact  in  it,  we  ought  to  attend 
both  to  the  surplus  of  days  above  the  1242  years,-\  and 
to  the  hours  and   minutes  by   which  the  true  solar  year 
exceeds  365  days  J  the  Apocalypse  itself,  1  think,  affords 
us  a  sufficient   proof  of  its  erroneousness.     Many  other 
numbers  are  mentioned  in  that  mysterious  book  besides 
the  1260  years;  we   must  unavoidably  therefore   con- 
clude, that  the  same  mode  of  reckoning,  which  is  used 
in  one  case,  must   be   used   likewise  in  another.     Now 
Mr.  Fleming  himself  allows,   compelled  thereto  by  the 
exact  accomplishment  of  the  prediction,   that  the  Jive 
prophetic  months  of  the  Saracenic  locusts  are  1 50  natural 
years,  not  150   years  of  no  more  than  360  days  each  ;% 
and  Bp.  Newton  has  admirably  shewn  from   the  event, 
that  the  prophetic  hour,  and  day,  and  month,  and  year,  al- 
lotted to  the  victories  of  the  Euphratian  horsemen,   are 
equivalent  to  391  solar  years  and  15  days,  being  the  pe- 
riod  comprehended   between    A.    D.    1281    and   A.  D. 
1672. §     Such  then  being  the  case,  since  both  these  sets 
of  numbers  are  evidently  to  be  computed  by  solar  years, 
the  number  1260  must,  if  we  would  preserve  consisten- 
cy, be  computed  by  solar  years  likewise.     Consequently 
the  1260  prophetic  days  oi^  D?in\e]  and  St.  John  are  1260 
complete  solar  years,  not,  as  Mr.  Fleming  supposes,  only 
1242  solar  years. 

*  Fleming's  Apoc.  Key,  p.  20,  21,  22. 

f  1260  years   of  360  days   each   are    equivalent    to    1242  years    and  270  diiys, 

453600  27C. 

f260  X  360=453600.   =1242 

365  365 

:|  Apoc.  Key,  p.  37,  38. 
§  Mr.  Fleming  attempts  to  reconcile  this  period  with  his  own  scheme  by  com- 
puting it  from  i/je  rise  of  the  Turkish  empire  to  the  taling  of  Constantinople  :  but  he 
forgets  that  the  prophet  directs  us  to  compute  it  from  the  time  when  the  four  Sul- 
ianies  were  prepared  to  be  let  loose  against  the  Greek  empire  ;  an  expression,  which 
implies  that  they  were  already  in  existence,  though  as  yet  bound  fast  by  the  dispen- 
sations of  Providence,  previous  to  the  commencement  of  the  period  in  question. 
See  Apoc.  Key,  p.  39,  40. 


15 

To  conclude  :  whatever  may  be  the  faults  of  the  pres- 
ent work,  they  are  exclusively  my  own.  Had  this,  and 
my  two  former  publications,  been  perused  by  the  emi- 
nent characters  to  whom  they  are  respectively  inscribed, 
previous  to  their  being  sent  to  the  press,  they  doubtless 
would  have  been  much  more  perfect  than  they  are  :  as 
it  is,  I  alone  am  responsible  for  the  errors  which  they 
may  contain. 


Jan.  20,   180.T. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION. 


M^HEN  the  first  edition  of  this  Work  was  pub- 
lished, we  had  not  received  intelligence  of  the  disastrous 
termination  of  the  campaign  of  ISOo,  at  the  battle  of 
Austerlitz  :  nozv^  although  one  decisive  victory  has  been 
gained  over  the  armies  of  Prussia,  we  are  nevertheless 
in  a  state  of  somewhat  similar  uncertainty  respecting  the 
final  issue  of  the  present  contest.  1  can  therefore  only 
again  observe,  as  1  then  observed,  that  "  the  Christian 
cannot  reasonably  doubt,  that  the  hand  of  God  is  stretch- 
ed forth  over  the  earth  in  a  peculiar  and  remarkable 
manner ;  and  that  all  things  will  assuredly  work  together 
to  fulfil  those  prophecies  which  yet  remain  unaccom- 
plished, and  to  prepare  a  way  for  the  last  tremendous 
manifestations  of  God's  wrath." 

The  Work,  of  which  a  second  edition  is  now  offered 
to  the  public,  was  wholly  written  in  the  i/ear  1804. 
After  it  was  written,  and  even  while  I  was  revising  and 
correcting  it  for  the  press,  so  many  important  events  oc- 
curred, that  I  soon  found  it  an  endless  labour  perpetually 
to  alter  the  text :  hence  I  adopted  the  plan  of  preserv- 
ing the  text  substantially  the  same  as  it  was  originally 
written,  and  of  introducing  into  additional  notes  any  re- 
markable passing  circumstances  that  seemed  to  throw 
fresh  light  on  my  subject.  The  same  plan  is  still  pur- 
sued in  the  present  edition.  Except  where  1  have  cor- 
rected some  errors  (of  no  very  great  moment  so  far  as 
my  main  subject  is  concerned,)  into  which  1  have  since 
seen  reason  to  believe  that  1  had  fallen,  the  text  remains 
the  same  as  it  stood  in  the  ij ear  1804  :  and  whatever 
matters  of  importance  have  occurred  previous  to  my 
sending  to  the  press,  in  Jime  1806,  the  revised  copy 
from  which  this  second  edition  has  been  printed,  are  all 
thrown  into  the  notes.  Yet  so  rapidly  do  great  events 
succeed  each  other,  that  even  this  has  not  been  sufficient 


17 

to  bring  the  present  edition  perfectly  down  to  the  day  of 
its  publication  :  and  it  is  only  in  a  Preface  that  I  have 
an  opportunity  of  mentioning  the  formal  resignation  of 
the  Roman  Carlovingian  emperorship  by  the  chief  of 
the  house  of  Austria,  the  entire  dissolution  of  the  Ger- 
manic body,  and  the  rapid  formation  of  a  new  feudal 
empire  subject  to  France  under  the  title  of  the  Rhenish 
confederacij .*'  While  the  reader  therefore  is  requested 
to  consider  the  body  of  the  work  as  written  in  the  year 
1804,  he  will  find  its  proper  date  annexed  to  every  note 
which  has  been  subsequent lij  added.  Such,  when  the 
peculiar  nature  of  my  subject  is  considered,  a  subject  on 
which  every  day  throws  new  hght,  was  thought  to  be  on 
the  whole  the  best  plan  which  i  could  adopt. 

Nothing  is  more  favourable  to  the  cause  of  truth  than 
fair  and  open  discussion.  My  work  has  been  attacked  ; 
and  1  have  answered  the  attack.  As  yet  1  have  seen  no 
reason  to  alter  any  of  my  main  positions  :  however  both 
the  attack  and  the  reply  are  before  the  public.  Though 
I  am  little  inclined  to  be  swayed  entirely  by  mere  au- 
thority, it  would  nevertheless  argue  an  intolerable  degree 
of  presumption  to  slight  with  wayward  petulance  the 
opinions  of  those,  whose  superiority  of  learning  and  tal- 
ents is  acknowledged  by  all.  Two  of  my  positions, 
which  were  impugned  with  peculiar  acrimony,  were  the 
application  of  DaniePs  ivilful  king'\  to  infidel  France^ 
which  I  conceived  to  he  the  great  Antichrist  of  the  last 
days ;  and  the  reference  of  the  remarkable  expedition 
against  Palestine  and  Egypt,"^  not  to  the  king  of  the  norths 
hut  to  this  iinJful  king.  Yet  in  both  these  positions  I 
have  the  satisfaction  to  say  that  I  am  supported  by  the 
very  high  authority  of  the  late  Bp.  Horsley.  h  letter, 
which  1  received  from  him,  contains  the  following  pas- 
sage. "  I  entirely  agree  with  you,  that  the  latter  parr  of 
the  11th  chapter  of  Daniel  (i.  e.  all  that  follows  the  30ih 
verse)  has  no  sort  of  relation  to  Antiochus  or  any  of  the 

*  In  one  of  the  last  sheets,  which  was  sent  to  me  previous  to  the  impression  be*- 
mg  struck  off,  I  have  had  it  in  my  power  to  notice  the  assembling  of  the  Jews  by 
Buonaparte  :  but  I  have  carefully  avoided  indulging  myself  in  any  speculations  «n 
this  event. 

t  Dan.  xi.  36—39.  |  Dan.  xi.  40—45. 

VOL.     I.  3 


18 

Syrian  kings.  And  the  wilful  king  of  the  last  ten  verses 
1  can  understand  of  nothing  but  the  great  Antichrist  of 
the  last  ages."  This  alone  is  a  sufficiently  explicit  dec- 
laration, that  his  Lordship  conceived  the  wilful  king  to 
be  the  subject  of  all  the  last  ten  verses  of  the  1  Ith  chap- 
ter, and  that  he  did  not  refer  the  six  last  of  those  ten 
verses  to  the  king  of  the  north,  as  Mr.  Whitaker  main- 
tains that  we  ought  to  do.  If  however  the  declaration 
contained  in  the  Bishop's  letter  to  me  required  any  ex- 
planation, a  most  full  explanation  of  it  would  be  found 
in  his  Lordship's  letter  to  Mr.  King  on  Isaiah  xviii. 
He  there  scruples  not  to  avow  his  belief,  that  in  the 
monstrous  tyranny  of  infidel  France,  he  beheld  the  rise 
of  the  Antichrist  of  the  West,  or  at  least  of  a  principal 
and  conspicuous  branch  of  Antichrist  :  and  to  this  An- 
tichrist thus  interpreted,  the  Antichrist  depicted  in  Dan, 
xi.  ^6 — 39,  he  unreservedly  ascribes  the  whole  expedi- 
tion into  Palestine,  foretold  in  Dan.  xi.  40 — 45  ;  adding, 
in  perfect  harmony  with  ver.  45,  that  he  thinks  there  is 
ground  for  believing,  as  the  early  fathers  believed,  "  that 
Palestine  is  the  stage  on  which  Antichrist,  in  the  height 
of  his  impiety,  will  perish."*  Thus  it  appears,  that  his 
Lordship  held  the  very  opinion  which  drew  upon  me 
the  censure  of  Mr.  Whitaker.  He  supposed  Daniel's 
wilful  king  to  be  the  great  Antichrist  of  the  last  ages  ; 
he  supposed  the  great  Antichrist  of  the  last  ages  to  be 
infidel  France  ;  and  he  supposed,  that  the  expedition 
into  Palestine  would  be  undertaken  by  the  great  Anti- 
christ or  the  wilful  king,  and  consequently  not  by  the 
king  of  the  north. 

Nov.  24,  1806. 

*  See  Bp.  Horsley's  Letter  on  Isaiah  xviii.  p.  102,  105,  106,  107,  108,  86,  87, 
88,  98,  103, 104,  105,  and  see  the  citation  from  this  letter  in  the  second  volume  of 
the  present  work. 


CONTENTS. 


VOL.    I. 


CHAP.  1. 

General  statement  of  the  subject. 

THE  1 260  years  cannot  have  any  connection  with  the  persecutions  of  pagan 
Rome,  p.  9.5. — They  are  the  period  of  the  dominance  of  the  great  Apostacy,  and  of 
the  reign  of  the  two  little  horns,  p.  27. — They  comprehend  likewise  towards  their 
conclusion  the  tyranny  of  the  Infidel  king,  who  was  destined  to  arise  after  the  era  of 
the  Reformation,  p.  35. — At  the  end  of  the  1260  years  all  these  enemies  of  God  will 
be  destroyed,  and  the  restoration  of  the  Jews  will  commence,  p.  36.—  These  matters 
are  predicted  in  four  of  the  prophecies  of  Daniel.  1 .  The  dream  of  Nebuchadnez- 
zar. 2.  The  vision  of  the  four  beasts.  3.  The  vision  of  the  ram  and  the  he-goat. 
4.  The  latter  end  of  the  prophecy  of  the  Scripture  of  truth,  p.  36. — With  these  four 
prophecies  the  Apocalypse  is  closely  connected,  p.  46. — This  grand  chronological 
prediction  contains  a  history  of  the  Church  of  Christ  from  the  days  of  St.  John  to 
the  end  of  the  world,  p.  47. — It  is  divided  into  three  successive  periods  of  seven 
seals,  seven  trumpets,  and  seven  vials,  p.  48. — Under  the  three  last  trumpets  the  pe- 
riod of  1260  days  is  comprehended  ;  the  final  trumpet  containing  the  seven  vials, 
p.  49. — This  period  is  equal  to  the  whole  duration  of  the  great  two-fold  Apostacy 
in  its  dominant  state,  p.  49. — The  History  of  the  Apostacy  is  detailed  in  two  distinct 
parallel  prophetic  lines,  p.  50. — The  little  book  contains  the  peculiar  history  of  the 
western  Apostacy  under  all  the  three  woe-trumpets,  p.  51. — Under  the  last  woe- 
trumpet  Antichrist  is  fully  revealed,  p.  52. — This  last  woe-trumpet  comprehends 
along  with  its  seven  vials  two  remarkable  periods  of  God's  wrath,  the  harvest  and 
the  vintage,  p.  54. — The  harvest  synchronizes  with  the  three  first  vials  ;  and  the. 
vintage  with  the  last  vial,  p.  55. — After  all  the  vials  have  been  poured  out,  and  the 
enemies  of  the  Lord  have  been  destroyed,  the  Millennium  will  commence,  p.  56-7" 
Points  of  correspondence  between  the  prophecies  of  Daniel  and  St.  John,  p.  59. 


CHAP.  n. 

On  the  symholical  language  of  prophecy^. 

ONE  symbol  does  not  represent  many  different  things,  though  one  thing  is 
frequently  represented  by  many  different  symbols,  p.  62. — Symbols  typify  at  once 
b»th  temporal  and  spiritual  things,  provided  the  matters  thus  typified  have  a  mutual 


20 

relation  and  correspondence,  p.  63. — Symbols  may  be  reduced  into  various  classes. — 
1.  Heaven,  with  its  subordinate  symbols,  p.  64. — 2.  Earth,  with  its  subordinate  sym- 
bols, p.  65. — 3.  A  city,  with  its  subordinate  symbols,  p.  68. — 4.  A  woman,  p.  72.— 
5.  A  vine,  p.  73. — 6.  A  beast,  with  its  subordinate  symbols,  p.  73. 


CHAP.  iir. 

Conieynlng  thi  scriptural  phrases  of  the  latter  days,  the  last  days,  and  the  time  of  the  end. 

IN  the  old  Testament,  the  phrases  of  the  latter  days,  and  the  last  days,  are  sy- 
nonymous ;  for  the  original  expression,  thus  variously  translated,  is  the  end  of  days, 
p.  77. — The  end  of  days  denotes  primarily  any  time  yet  to  come,  but  secondarily  the  pe- 
riod of  the  MiUennium,  p.  78. — In  the  new  Testament,  the  last  days,  when  not  spoken 
of  prophetically,  signify,  the  -whole  period  of  the  Gospel  dispensation,  p.  80. — But,  when 
the  latter  days,  and  the  last  days,  are  spoken  of  prophetically,  then  they  bear  two  en- 
tirely distinct  significations,  p.  80. — In  this  case,  the  latter  days  import  the  reign  of  su- 
ferstition,  which  continues  during  the  greater  part  of  the  Apostacy  :  while  the  last 
days  mean  the  reign  of  Atheism  and  InfdelHy,  which  openly  commences  under  the  last 
woe-trumpet  towards  the  termination  of  the  Apostacy,  p.  81. — The  propriety  of  this 
distinction  appears  from  a  survey  of  the  different  prophecies  professedly  descriptive 
of  the  latter  days  and  the  last  days,  p.  82. — What  we  are  to  understand  by  the  term 
Antichrist,  p.  87. — The  time  of  the  end  is  the  termination  of  the  1260  days  ;  and  it  appar- 
ently extends  through  the  75  years,  which  intervene  between  that  termination  and 
the  commencement  of  the  Millennium,  being  the  period  of  God's  great  controversy 
with  his  enemies,  p.  91. 


CHAP.  IV. 


Conceyiting  the  iivo  fnt  prophecies  of  Daniel,  and  the  little  horn  of  the  fourth  least. 

FROM  the  days  of  Nebuchadnezzar  to  the  commencement  of  the  Millen- 
nium, there  are  to  be  no  more  tlian  four  empires,  universal  so  far  as  the  Church  is 
concerned  ;  the  Babylonian  ;  the  Medo-Persian  ;  the  Macedonian  ;  and  the  Ro- 
man, p.  98. — These  are  doubly  symbolized  by  the  different  parts  of  a  large  human 
image,  and  by  four  distinct  beasts, p.  98. — The  last  or  Roman  beast  is  described  as  hav- 
ing ten  horns,  and  a  little  horn  rising  up  among  and  behind  them,  p.  99. — The  his- 
tory of  the  little  horn  is  not  an  epitome  of  the  whole  history  of  Antichrist,  considered 
as  Papal,  Mohammedan,  and  Infidel,  p.  102. — Nor  is  the  little  horn  itself  revolution- 
ary France,  p.  106. — On  the  contrary,  it  is  the  Papacy,  p.  117. — Yet  it  cannot  be 
the  temporal  kingdom  of  the  Papacy  ;  but  must  be  that  spiritual  kingdom  of  the 
Bishop  of  Rome,  which,  small  as  it  originally  was,  grew  at  length  int(>  a  catholic 
spiritual  empire,  symbolized  by  the  second  beast  of  the  Apocalypse,  p.  1 17. — It  was 
to  arise  during  the  period  that  the  Roman  empire  was  divided  into  ten  kingdoms, 
p.  1 1 9. — It  was  to  be  harmless  during  the  first  part  of  its  existence  ;  but,  after  the 
saints  had  been  given  by  the  secular  power  into  its  hand,  it  was  to  become  an  uni- 
versal ecclesiastical  tyrant,  utterly  offensive  in  the  eyes  of  God,  p.  119. — At  the  pe- 
riod of  their  being  thus  given  into  its  hand,  the  1260  days  of  tke  great  Apostacy  of 
the  man  of  sip,  considered  in  its  dominant  state,  commenced,  p.  120.— Exact  cor- 


21 

respondence  of  the  character  of  the  little  horn  with  the  character  of  the  Papacy,  p. 

127. The  three  horns,  which  were  to  be  plucked  up  before  the  little  horn,  are  not 

the  Greek  sovereignty  in  Italy,  the  kingdom  of  the  Lombards,  and  the  western  im- 
perial authority  in  Italy,  p.  131. — Neither  are  they  the  Exarchate  of  Ravenna,  the 
kingdom  of  the  Lombards,  and  the  state  of  Rome,  p.  1 32. — But  they  are  the  kingdom 
of  the  Keruli.  the  kingdom  of  the  Ostrogoths,  and  the  kingdom  of  the  Lombards,  p. 
135. — The  body  of  the  fourth  beast  comprehends  the  whole  Roman  empire,  both 
In  the  East  and  in  the  West,  p.  144. — But  the  ten  ho'ns  are  to  be  sought  for  only 
in  the  West,  p.  144. — For  the  Constantinopolitan  Emperor  was  the  representative 
of  the  sixth  head,  and  consequently  cannot  be  esteemed  one  of  the  ten  horns  like- 
wise, p.  1 45. — The  ten  horns  ase  the  ten  kingdoms,  into  which  the  Empire  w^ 
originally  divided,  p.  148. 


CHAP.  V. 

Concerning  the  "vision  of  the  ram  and  the  he-goat,  and  the  little  horn  of  the  he-goat. 

THE  ram  symbolizes  the  same  power  as  the  bear  in  the  preceding  vision  ; 
and  the  he-goat,  the  same  as  the  leopard  :  the  ram  therefore  is  the  Medo-Persian 
empire  ;  and  the  he-goat,  the  Macedonian,  p.  149. — The  great  horn  of  the  he-goat 
is  the  imperial  dynasty  of  Alexander,  p.  150. — His  four  horns  are  the  four  Greek 
kingdoms  erected  bv  Cassander,  Lysimachus,  Ptolemy,  and  Seleucus,  p.  160.-  The 
little  horn  of  the  he-goat  is  not  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  p.  151. — Neither  is  it  the  Ro- 
man power  in  Macedon  and  the  East,  p.  151. — Nor  is  it  a  compound  symbol,  typify- 
ing at  once  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  the  Roman  power  in  the  East,  Mohammedism, 
and  the  infidel  republic  of  France,  p.  158. — But  it  relates  to  Mohammedism  alone  : 
because  nothing,  except  the  spiritual  empire  of  Mohammed,  corresponds  with  it  in 
every  particular,  local,  circumstantial,  and  chronological,  p.  159. — The  tyrannical 
reign  of  both  the  spiritual  little  horns,  Papal  and  Mohammedan,  is  to  be  dated  from 
the  same  year  606,  p.  163. — The  propriety  of  fixing  upon  this  date  shewn,  both  from 
the  circumstance  of  the  saints  having  been  delivered  into  the  hand  of  the  Papal  horn 
in  this  very  year,  and  from  its  being  the  only  date  which  will  make  all  the  prophet- 
ic numbers  of  Daniel  harmonize  together,  p.  164. —  Date  of  the  vision  of  the  ram 
and  the  he-goat  ascertained  by  a  computation  deduced  from  the  year  606,  p.  173.— 
The  character  of  the  little  horn  of  the  he-goat  perfectly  corresponds  with  the  char- 
acter of  Mohammedism  in  every  particular,  p.  185. — Whence  it  is  concluded,  that  it 
sjnnbolizes  Mohammedism  and  nothing  but  Mohammedism,  p.  211. 


CHAP.  VX 

Concerning  DanieVi  last  'nision,  and  the  king  -who  magnifed  himself  above  every  god. 

THE  first  part  of  this  prophecy  is  both  unconnected  with  the  period  of  the 
1260  days,  and  has  been  so  amply  and  satisfactorily  explained  by  Bp.  Newton,  that 
It  is  impossible  to  add  any  new  observations  to  those  which  he  has  already  made,  p. 
212. — But  the  second  part  is  attended  with  considerable  difficulties,  p.  213.  ■  What 
power  did  Daniel  mean  to  describe  under  the  character  of  the  king,  who  was  to 
magnify  himself  above  every  god  .''  p.  213. — He  is  not  a  compound  power,  including 


22 

both  the  Eastern  Emperors  and  Western  Popes,  p.  213, 216. — Neither  is  he  a  double 
•  type  ;  relating  primarily  to  the  Papacy,  and  ultimately  either  to  Mohammedism  or 
Infidelity,  p.  214,  233. — What  are  we  to  understand  by  his  disregarding  the  desire  of 
women  .■'  p.  225. — He  cannot  be  the  same  power  as  the  man  of  sin,  p.  230. — The 
power,  which  he  typifies,  must  be  sought  for  after  the  Reformation,  as  appears  from 
the  chronological  series  of  events  detailed  by  Daniel  previous  to  the  first  mention  of 
him,  p.  221,  234. — It  must  likewise  be  sought  for,  as  is  manifest  from  the  character 
of  the  king,  in  the  last  days  of  Atheism  and  Infidelity,  p.  225. — The  king  however  is 
not  to  be,  like  the  mockers  of  the  last  days,  any  single  individual,  but  a  nation  com- 
posed of  individuals  who  openly  profess  the  principles  of  tiie  mockers,  p.  238. — This 
nation  is  revolutionary  France,  the  long-predicted  Antichrist,  p.  240. — The  Atheism 
of  France,  p.  241. — Her  worship,  notwithstanding  this  Atheism,  of  a  foreign  god 
and  tutelary  deities,  p.  241. — In  what  manner  she  caused  her  foreign  god,  and  the 
upholders  of  her  tutelary  deities,  to  rule  over  many,  p.  243. — In  what  manner  she 
honoured  them  with  desirable  things,  p.  247. — In  what  manner  she  has  divided  the 
land  among  the  upholders  of  her  tutelary  deities  for  a  price,  p.  248. — Although  the 
principlesof  Antichrist  were  workingeven  in  the  apostolic  age,yet  eventually  the  main 
cause  of  his  success  in  propagating  his  blasphemous  opinions  was  the  corruption  of  the 
truth  by  Popery,  p.  249. — It  was  predicted  however,  that  some  of  those,  who  had 
clean  escaped  from  them  that  live  in  error,  should  be  deluded  by  the  false  teachers 
of  the  last  days,  p.  251. — This  accordingly  has  happened  in  various  protestant  coun- 
tries, p.  251. — The  possible  objection,  that  the  French  have  again  professed  them- 
selves Christians,  answered,  p.  251. —  1.  The  established  religion  in  France  is  a  mere 
political  puppet,  p.  251. — 2.  The  prophecies,  relative  to  the  duration  of  the  great 
dominant  Apostacy,  could  not  have  been  accomplished,  unless  Antichrist  had  be- 
come the  avowed  supporter  of  it,  p.  252. — 3.  The  prophecies,  relative  to  the  great 
events  which  are  about  to  take  place  at  the  close  of  the  1260  years,  could  not  have 
been  exactly  fulfilled,  unless  Antichrist,  at  some  period  or  another  of  his  existence, 
had  actually  leagued  himself  with  the  Papacy,  p.  253. — ^The  wars  of  the  infidel  king 
with  the  kings  of  the  North  and  the  South  are  not  to  take  place  till  the  time  of  the 
end,  and  consequently  are  still  future,  p.  256. — Such  likewise  is  the  case  with  his  in- 
vasion of  Palestine,  and  his  destruction  there,  at  the  period  of  the  restoration  of  the 
Jews,  p.  267. 


CHAP.  VIL 

Of  the  four  jirst  apocalyptic  irumpeif. 

THE  seven  apocalyptic  trumpets  may  be  divided  into  the  four,  which  pre- 
pare the  way  for  the  revelation  of  the  man  of  sin  ;  and  the  three  which  comprehend 
the  whole  history  of  the  Apostacy  in  its  dominant  state  both  in  the  East  and  in  the 
West,  and  which  are  styled  ■tuoe-tmmpets,  p.  270. — The  silence  at  the  opening  of  the 
seventh  seal  indicates  the  anxious  expectation  of  the  troubles  about  to  be  produced 
by  the  sounding  of  the  trumpets,  p.  271. — By  the  sounding  of  the  four  first  trum- 
pets, he,  that  letted  or  prevented  the  revelation  of  the  man  of  sin,  is  taken  out  of  the 
way,  p.  273. — At  the  sounding  of  the  firgt  trumpet,  the  northern  nations,  under 
Alaric,  Radagaisus,  and  Attila,  overrun  the  Roman  empire,  p.  273. — At  the  sound- 
ing of  the  second,  Genseric  king  of  the  Vandals  assaults  the  Western  Empire  from 
the  South,  and  hurls  it  from  its  base,  like  a  huge  blazing  mountain,  p.  278. — At  the 
sounding  of  the  third,  the  line  of  the  'Western  Cesars  becomes  extinct  in  the  person 
of  Augustulus,  p.  280. — At  the  sounding  of  the  fourth,  the  Roman  Empire,  consid- 
ered as  one  great  whole,  experiences  an  eclipse  of  its  power  and  splendor,  by  the 
downfall  of  its  Western  half,  p.  282. — Statement  of  the  grounds,  on  which  this  ex- 
planation of  the  four  first  trumpets  is  adopted  in  preference  to  that  of  Bp.  Newton, 
p.  283. 


23 


CHAP.  VIIL 

Of  tie  thret  last  apmalyptic  irumpitif  or,  as  they  are  peculiarly  styled,  the  three  itsce-trumpeti- , 

THE  prophecy  here  divides  itself  into  two  distinct  lines,  treating  severally 
of  the  Eastern  and  Western  branches  of  the  great  Apostacy,  p.  285. — The  first  of 
the  three  woe-trumpets  describes  the  commencement  of  the  dominance  of  the  two- 
fold Apostacy,  p.  286. — The  second  represents  it  in  the  zenith  of  its  power,  till  the 
primary  and  only  partial  manifestation  of  Antichrist,  p.  286. — The  third  exhibits  its 
downfall,  displaying  at  the  same  time  the  multiphed  horrors  of  the  harvest  and  vin- 
tage of  the  Lord,  or  the  uncontrolled  reign  of  the  atheistical  king  and  his  subscqu^t 
destruction  along  with  the  other  enemies  of  God,  p.  286. 


CHAP.  IX. 

Concerning  the  effects  of  the  tiuo  jirst  ivoe-trumpets  in  the  East. 

AT  the  sounding  of  the  fifth  trumpet,  or  the  first  woe-trumpet,  in  the  East, 
the  Apostate  star  Sergius  opens  the  door  of  the  bottomless  pit,  and  lets  out  the  im- 
postor Mohammed  with  his  Saracenic  locusts,  p.  287. — At  the  sounding  of  the  sixth 
■trumpet,  or  the  second  woe-trumpet,  the  four  Sultanies  of  the  Turkish  horsemen  are 
loosed  from  the  river  Euphrates  ;  and,  in  due  season,  slay  the  third  part  of  raen;Or 
subvert  the  Constantinopolitan  monarchy,  p.  291. 


A  DISSERTAllON,  s^-c 


CHAPTER     I. 

General  Statement  of  the  Subject. 

IN  the  Prophecies  of  Daniel  and  St.  John  fre- 
quent mention  is  madeof  a  certain  period,  during  which, 
for  wise  purposes  unknown  to  us,  the  enemies  of  God 
should  be  allowed  to  persecute  and  oppress  his  Church. 
This  period  is  indifferently  described  as  consisting  of 
three  times  and  a  half  42  months.^  or  1260  days  :  for,  if 
we  reckon  a  time  or  a  year  to  contain  360  days^  42 
months^  or  1360  days^  will  in  that  case  be  exactly  equal 
to  three  such  years  and  a  half.  In  the  language  of  pro- 
phecy however,  as  it  is  well  known,  natural  years  are 
termed  days.  Hence  1260  days  mean  1260  years  :  and, 
by  a  parity  of  reckoning,  42  months  mean  so  many  months 
oj' years ;  and  three  years  and  a  half  the  same  number 
of  years  of  years.  Consequently  the  period,  during 
■which  the  Church  is  to  be  oppressed  by  her  enemies, 
amounts  to  1260  natural  years. ^ 

*  That  days  mean  years,  may,  I  think,  be  proved,  so  far  as  matters  of  this  nature 
are  capable  of  proof,  from  the  writings  even  of  Daniel  and  St.  John  themselves. 

We  may  venture  to  assume,  that  the  same  mode  of  computation,  vsrhich  is  used  by 
these  writers  in  one  passage,  will  be  used  by  them  in  all  other  passages  ;  at  least  in 
all  those,  which  are  marked  by  the  common  feature  of  treating,  not  of  the  fate  of 
individuals,  but  of  the  fortune  of  corhmunities.  Hence,  if  any  of  their  numerical 
prophecies  be  already  accomplished,  we  shall  thereby  have  a  clue  for  ascertaining 
the  proper  method  of  interpreting  all  the  rest. 

Upon  these  principles,  when  we  find  that  Daniel's  famous  prophecy  of  the  70 
nveeks  has  been  proved  by  the  event  of  our  Lord's  advent  to  speak  of  70  iveetr 
ef  years  or  490  years,  we  may  infer  that  his  three  years  and  a  half  mean  years  of 
years,  and  that  his  2300,  1290,  and  1335,  days  mean  the  same  number  of  natural  years. 
In  a  similar  manner,  finding  equally  from  the  event  that  the  ten  days  persecution  of  the 
(hurch  of  Smyrna  mean  the  ten  years  persecution  carried  on  by  Diocletian,  that  the  five 
Tnonths  raiyages  of  the  Saracenic  locusts  mean  \50  years,  and  that  the  year,  the  ?nonth,  the 
day,  and  the  hour,  of  the  Euphratean  horseme/i  mea.a  391  years  and  \5  days  :  we  may 
thence  infer,  that  St.  John's  three  years  and  a  half  are  years  of  years  ;  his  42  months^ 
tnonths  uf  years  ;  and  his  1260  days  and  his  three  days  and  a  half,  the  same  number  of 
natural  years.  But  we  find,  that  the  three  years  and  a  half  thq  42  months,  and  the  12C0 
VOL.  f.  4 


26 

Both  Daniel  and  St.  John  have  given  us  abundantly 
sufficient  reasons  for  concluding,  that  this  period  ot'  per- 
secution and  trouble  has  no  connection  with  the  per- 
secutions which  the  Church  endured  from  t!ie  pagan 
Roman  Emperors.  The  first  of  these  prophets,  in  liis 
vision  of  the  Jour  great  heasts  or  empires  *  in ti mates, 
th'dt  the  power,  into  whose   hand  the  saints  should    be 

diys,  are  all  plainly  descriptive  of  one  and  the  same  period  :  hence  we  are  circuTr.' 
itanttaLy  led  to  conclude,  even  a  priori,  that  they  all  denote  tiie  same  space  of  time. 
If  then  we  adopt  the  ancient  mode  of  computing-  by  years  of  360  days  each,  we 
shall  find  that  by  such  a  mode  of  computation  thre^ years  and  a  ha'f  exactly  contain 
42  months  or  1260  i/jv-f  ■•  hence  we  are  numerically  led  to  conclude,  thai  the  three 
expressions  are  only  different  modes  of  describing  one  and  the  same  period.  The 
result  of  the  whole  is,  that  prophetic  dayi  mean  years  :  and  that  the  three  years  and  a 
half,  the  42  months,  and  the  1260  days,  are  ahke  used  to  denote  1260  natural  years. 

I  am  aware,  that  a  year  is  sometimes  used  in  its  literal  sense,  as  in  Isaiah  vii.  8. 
xxiii.  17.  Jerem.  xxv.  11,  12,  and  even  by  Daniel  himself  when  predicting  the  pun- 
ishment of  the  individual  Nebuchadnezzar  (Dan.  iv.  25.)  ;  yet  other  instances  may 
be  brought,  as  well  as  those  already  adduced,  to  prove  that  days,  in  the  language  of 
prophecy,  mean  years. 

"  After  the  number  of  the  days  in  which  ye  searched  the  land,  even  forty  days, 
each  day  for  a  year,  shall  ye  bear  your  iniquities,  even  forty  years."  (Numb.  xiv.  34.) 
"  Lie  thou  also  upon  thy  left  side,  and  lay  the  iniquity  of  the  house  of  Israel  upon 
it :  according  to  the  number  of  the  days  that  thou  shalt  lie  upon  it,  thou  shalt  bear 
their  iniquity.  For  I  have  laid  upon  thee  the  years  of  their  iniquity,  according  to 
the  number  of  the  days,  three  hundred  and  ninety  days  :  so  shalt  thou  bear  the  ini- 
quity of  the  house  of  IsraeL  And,  when  thou  hast  accomplished  them,  He  again  on 
thv  right  side,  and  thou  shalt  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  house  of  Judah  forty  days  :  I 
have  appointed  thee  each  day  for  a  year."     (Ezek.  iv.  4,  5,  6.) 

The  only  writers,  that  I  have  met  with,  who  are  unwilling  to  allow  the  three  times 
and  a  half  to  be  the  same  period  as  the  1260  days,  are  Mr.  Burton  and  Air.  Gallo- 
way. The  form.er  asserts,  without  a  shadow  of  authority  from  Daniel,  that  each 
time  comprehends  70  prophetic  iveeks  or  490  years,  merely  because  the  famous  prophecy 
relative  to  the  Messiah,  includes  a  period  of  70  ivceks  ;  (Dan.  ix.  24.)  and  he  dates 
the  three  times  and  a  half  from  the  year  49,  or  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  the 
Gentiles:  consequently  they  bring  him  do^^'Tl  to  the  year  1764,  when  the  Jesuits 
were  suppressed.  Now,  independent  of  his  having  no  warrant  for  asserting,  that 
a  time  comprehends  70  iveels,  the  event  itself  has  shewn  him  to  be  mistaken  :  for, 
whenever  the  three  times  and  a  half  shall  expire,  the  fezvs  will  begin  to  be  restored. 
(See  Dan.  xli.  7.)  A  time  however,  as  we  learn  from  Daniel  himself,  is  a  year.  (Dan. 
iv.  25.)  But  a  jf^r,  according  to  the  old  computation,  comprehends  "^60  days,  not 
TO  'iveeis.  Each  time,  therefore,  must  comprehend  560  prophetic  da\s.  Consequently 
three  such  times  and  a  half  zve  exactly  equal  to  1 260  days.  Whence  we  may  nalurally 
conclude,  that  the  two  expressions  mean  the  same  period.  In  addition  to  these  ob- 
jections to  Mr.  Burton's  scheme,  it  may  be  observed,  that  Daniel  directs  us  to  date 
the  three  times  and  a  half  irom  the  era  wlien  the  saints  were  delivered  into  the  hand  of 
the  little  h'jrtt.  (Dan.  vii.  25.)  The  little  /?or», however,  was  not  to  arise  until  the  Riman 
Empire  WcLS  divided  Into  ten  iino^doms.  (Dan.  vii.  8.)  It  will  follow,  therefore,  that 
the  three  times  and  a  half  cAnxnol  be  d.^ted  from  the  year  49,  which  expired  long  before 
the  Empire  was  thus  di\'ided.  (Burton's  Essay  on  the  Numbers  of  Daniel  and  St.  John, 
p.  247,  et  irfra.)  Mr.  Galloway  maintains,  that  the  three  times  and  a  half  are  merely 
three  natural  years  and  a  half.  Yet  he  asserts,  that  the  1 260  days  are  not  natural  but 
prcphetlc  days.  The  use  wliich  he  makes  of  this  separation  of  the  two  periods  from 
each  other,  shall  be  considered  hereafter.  The  Papists  maintain  the  1 260  days  to  be 
mere  Batural  days.    This  they  do  for  obvioui  reasons. 

■''  Daniel  vii. 


jriven  during  the  appointed  period  of  1260  //em-,?,  should 
begin  to  arise  in  the  age  in  which  the  last  beast^  or  the 
Roman  Empire^  was  divided  into  ten  horns  or  kingdoms. 
The  Roman  Etu/nire,  however,  was  not  thus  divided  till 
€(ffer  it  had  become  Christian,  and  till  all  the  persecu- 
tions of  the  pagan  Emperors  had  ceased.  Whence  it 
will  necessarily  follow,  that  the  period  of  1260  ijears 
cannot  include  the  persecutions  of  Paganism,  and  that 
the  poioer  symbolized  by  the  little  horn  of  the  Roman 
beast  must  be  some  power  at  once  posterior  to  and  dis- 
tinct from  the  line  of  the  pagan  Emperors.  The  second 
of  these  prophets,  in  a  similar  manner,  describes  a  variety 
of  important  events  as  taking  place  between  his  own  age 
and  that  in  which  the  1260  ijears  may  be  supposed  to 
have  commenced  ;  and,  like  Daniel,  teaches  us,  that  the 
date  ij^  those  1260  years  is  to  be  sought  for,  not  at  any 
era  while  the  Roman  Empire  was  one  great  monarchij, 
but  after  it  had  been  broken  into  ten  kincrdoms.  Inde- 
pendent  indeed  of  chronological  considerations,  the  very 
term  of  1260  years  plainly  shews,  that  that  period  can 
have  no  relation  to  the  tyranny  of  pagan  Rome.  Con- 
stantine  published  his  famous  edict  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  Christianity,  and  the  abolition  of  all  persecution, 
in  the  (/ear  3\3.  The  primitive  Church,  therefore,  was 
only  subject  to  the  malice  of  Paganism  during  the  space 
of  313  years  .*  whereas  it  is,  more  or  less,  to  be  sub- 
jected to  the  malice  of  the  little  horn  during  the  space  of 
1260  years. 

But,  although  the  pagan  Roman  Empire,  has  no  con- 
nection with  the  persecution  of  1260  years,  we  are  evi- 
dently to  look  for  the  grand  promoter  or  promoters  of  it 
within  the  limits  of  the  old  Roman  Empire.  The  little 
horn,  the  ten  horns,  and  the  last  head  of  the  fourth  beast, 
all  arise  out  of  that  beast ;  the  Roman  Empire,  therefore, 
must  necessarily  comprehend  every  one  of  these  powers. 

So  again  :  since  the  Roman  Empire  had  embraced 
Christianity  previous  to  its  division  into  ten  kingdoms, 
since  all  those  ten  kingdoms  were  converted  very  soon 

*  This  will  of  course  be  understood  as  only  a  loose  computation.  It  serves,  how- 
ever, for  the  present  purpose,  as  well  as  a  more  exact  one. 


2S 

after  their  foundation,  and  since  f/ie  little  horn  is  repre- 
sented as  being  contemporary  with  them,  and  as  spring- 
ing up  among  them  ;  the  little  horn^  whatever  it  may  be 
designed  to  symbolize,  must  be  some  power  at  least  nom- 
inaliif  Christian.  This  point  is  proved  by  history  :  for, 
at  the  time  when  the  Roman  Empire  was  divided,  we 
shall  in  vain  look  for  the  rise  of  any  pagan  power  within 
the  limits  o'l  the- Empire^  that  at  all  answers  to  the  pro- 
phetic character  of  the  little  horn.  Yet  it  is  manifest, 
that  the  little  horn  must  have  been  long  since  in  exist- 
ence, because  it  is  described  as  first  beginning  to  make 
its  appearance  at  the  era  of  the  division  of  the  Roman 
Empire. 

If  then  the  little  horn  be  the  type  of  some  Christian 
power,  it  must  be  one  that  has  greatly  fallen  away  from 
the  purity  and  simplicity  of  the  primitive  Church ;  be- 
cause it  is  described  as  wearing  out  the  saints  during  the 
space  of  three  times  and  a  half  or  1260  natural  if  ear  s^ 
and  as  speaking  great  words  by  the  side  of  the  Most  High 
so  as  to  place  itself  upon  an  equality  with  God. 

The  nature  both  of  this  poiver,  and  of  its  apostacif,  we 
are  clearly  taught  by  St.  John.  In  the  Apocalypse  the 
same  ten-horned  beast  or  Roman  Empire,  as  that  men- 
tioned by  Daniel,  is  described  as  standing  in  the  wilder- 
'iiess.  Here,  however,  he  appears  without  his  little  horn; 
and  instead  of  it  is  represented  as  supporting  a  harlot, 
who,  precisely  like  the  little  horn,  is  said  to  be  a  great 
persecutor  of  the  faithful  ;  for  St.  John  beheld  her 
*'  drunken  with  the  blood  of  the  saints,  and  with  the 
blood  of  the  martyrs  of  Jesus."  Now  we  learn  from  the 
ancient  prophets,  that  an  adulterous  z<Doman  is  the  type 
of  an  apostate  and  idolatrous  church  .•*  the  apocalyptic 
harlot,  therefore,  must  symbolize  some  such  church.  But 
St.  John  tells  us,  that  this  harlot  is  the  great  citif  which 
in  his  time  reigned  over  all  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and 
whose  seat  of  empire  was  founded  upon  seven  hills  :  the 
harlot,  therefore,  must  be  some  apostate  church,  whose 
influence  extends  over  all  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and 
whose  seat  is  in  the  seven-hilled  city  Rome. 

*  See  Isaiah  Ivii.  3 — 10.     Jerem.  ii.  20.     iii.  1 — 20.     Ezek.  xvi.  xxiii. 


29 

As  for  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  apostamj  with  which 
this  church  is  stigmatized,  it  is  very  largely  described  by 
the  Apostle  in  the  course  of  his  prophetic  vision.  The 
church  in  question  was  to  be  notorious  for  persecuting 
the  saints  of  God  ;  for  making  all  nations  drunken  with 
the  cup  of  her  spiritual  fornication  or  idolatry  ;  for  work- 
ing pretended  miracles  ;  for  conipelling  the  whole  world 
to  worship  an  imaoe  ;  for  layuig  such  as  presumed  to 
dissent  from  her  undpr  the  severest  interdicts ;  and  for 
carrying  on  an  iniquitous  traffic  in  all  sorts  of  valuable 
commodities,  and  (what  distinguishes  her  from  common 
traders)  in  the  souls  of  men. 

This  same  ecclesiastical  power  is  likewise  described 
by  St.  Paul,  and  iis  deflection  from  piimitive  Christian- 
ity is  expressly  styled  by  him  an  Apostucij.  "  Now  we 
beseech  you,  brethren,"  says  he  to  the  Thessalonians, 
"  by  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  by  our 
gathering  together  unto  him,  that  ye  be  not  soon  shaken 
in  mind,  or  be  troubled,  neither  by  spirit,  nor  by  word, 
nor  by  letter,  as  from  us,  as  that  the  day  of  Christ  is  at 
hand.  Let  no  man  deceive  you  by  any  means  :  for  that 
day  shall  not  come,  except  there  come  an  Apostacy  first, 
and  that  man  of  sin  be  revealed,  the  son  of  perdition  ; 
who  opposeth  and  exalteth  himself  above  all  that  is 
called  God,  or  that  is  worshipped  ;  so  that  he  as  God 
sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God,  shewing  himself  that  he  is 
God.  Remember  ye  not,  that,  when  1  was  yet  with  you, 
1  told  you  these  things  \  And  now  ye  know  what  with- 
holdeth,  that  he  might  be  revealed  in  his  time.  For  the 
mystery  of  iniquity  doth  already  work  :  only  he,  who 
now  letteth,  will  let,  until  he  be  taken  out  of  the  way. 
And  then  shall  that  wicked  be  revealed,  whom  the  Lord 
shall  consume  with  the  spirit  of  his  mouth,  and  shall 
destroy  with  the  brightness  of  his  coming  :  even  him, 
whose  coming  is  after  the  working  of  Satan,  with  all 
power,  and  signs,  and  lying  wonders,  and  with  all  de- 
ceivableness  of  unrighteousness  in  them  that  perish  :  be- 
cause they  received  not  the  love  of  the  truth,  that  they 
might  be  saved.  And  for  this  cause  God  shall  send  them 
strong  delusion,  that  they  should  believe  a  lie  :  that  they 


30 

all  might  be  damned  who  believed  not  the  truth,  but 
had  pleasure  in  unrighteousness."  * 

The  nature  of  this  apostactj^  which  should  be  upheld 
by  the  man  qfsi/t,  he  also,  like  St.  John,  elsewhere  sets 
forth  at  large.  "  Now  the  Spirit  speaketh  expressly,  that 
in  the  latter  times  some  shall  apostatize  from  the  faith, 
giving  heed  to  seducing  spirits  and  doctrines  concerning 
demons,  through  the  hypc>crisy  of  liars, •]•  having  their 
conscience  seared  with  a  hot  iron,  forbidding  to  marry, 
and  commanding  to  abstain  from  meats,  which  God  hath 
created  to  be  received  with  thanksoivin^  of  them  which 
believe  and  know  the  truth. — Refuse  profane  and 
old  wives'  fables,  and  exercise  thyself  rather  unto  godli- 
ness. For  bodily  exercise  profiteth  little  :  but  godliness 
is  profitable  unto  all  things,  having  promise  of  the  life 
that  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to  come.":j:  Here  we 
learn,  in  addition  to  the  marks  of  the  apostate  church 
given  us  by  St.  John,  that  it  should  be  noted  for  the 
worship,  not  only  of  idols,  but  of  demons  or  canonized 
dead  men  ;  for  its  prohibition  of  marriage  to  certain 
classes  of  men  ;  for  its  superstitious  injunctions  to  abstain 
from  particular  kinds  of  food  ;  and  for  its  attachment  to 
vain  traditions  and  bodily  mortifications,  which  have 
no  warrant  from  scripture,  and  which  are  very  far  from 
being  conducive  to  real  godliness. 

Though  I  have  cited  the  prophecies  relative  to  the  man 
of  sin  and  the  Apostacy,  1  shall  purposely  refrain  from 
discussing  the  character  of  that  arch  enemy  of  sound  re- 
ligion, because  1  have  nothing  to  add  to  Bp.  Newton's 
excellent  Dissertation  upon  the  subject.  1  am  aware 
that  some  great  modern  names  have  applied  the  prophecy 
of  the  man  of  sin  to  French  Infidelitij  ;  but  1  have  not 
yet  seen  any  arguments  which  convince  me  of  the  pro- 
priety of  such  an  application.      In  e-cerij  particular,  as 

-   2  Thess.  li.  1. 

f  The  ingenious  Mr.  Whitaker  conceives  the  word  ^atfcoviai  to  be  an  adjective, 
and  translates  the  passage  "  giving  heed  to  seducing  spirits,  and  doctrines  of  wretch- 
ed men  speaking  hes  in  hypocrisy."  How  far  such  a  translation  be  allowable  ac- 
cording to  the  general  idiom  of  the  inspired  writers  of  the  New  Testament,  1  will 
not  take  upon  me  to  determine.  It  certainly  accords  very  well  with  the  context  of 
the  passage.     General  View  of  the  Prophecies,  p.  231. 

\  1  Tim.  iv.  1. 


31 

Bp.  Newton  hath  fully  shewn,  the  prediction  answers  t© 
Popertf  and  the  Fope :  in  several  particulars  it  by  no 
means  answers  either  to  French  Inficlelitij  or  the  French 
Republic.  Hence  1  conclude,  that  Bp.  Newton's  inter- 
pretation is  the  true  one.* 

The  period,  assigned  both  by  Daniel  and  St.  John  to 
the  tyrannical  reign  of  the  man  of  sin  or  the  little  horn  of 
the  Roman  beast ^  and  the  dominance  of  the  great  western 
Aposfacif^  is  three  times  and  a  half  ox  1260  years.  Here, 
therefore,  we  must  define  the  proper  mode  of  dating  that 
period. 

In  prophecies,  which  are  sfricthf  chronological^  the 
overt  acts  of  communities,  or  the  heads  of  communities, 
are  necessarily  alone  considered  in  the  fixing  of  dates  ; 
because  it  would  be  impossible  for  us  to  know  how  to 
date  any  particular  period  from  the  insulated  and  unau- 
thorized acts  of  individuals.  But  in  prophecies,  which  are 
not  strict/if  chronological,  the  scope  is  much  more  wide, 
and  much  less  definite  ;  extending,  not  merely  to  com- 
munities and  their  heads,  but  to  every  individual  whose 
actions  the  prophecies  may  describe.  On  these  grounds 
there  are  two  entirely  ditferent  dates  to  the  Apostacij. 
The  first  is  its  date,  when  considered  as  relating  to  indi- 
viduals :  the  second  is  its  date,  when  considered  as  relat- 
ing to  that  communitif  over  which  the  man  of  sin  presides. 
St.  Paul  describes  the  Apostacijm  its  first,  or  individual 
character  :  Daniel  and  St.  John  specify  its  triumphant 
duration  in  its  second,  or  general  character.  Now  it  is 
manifest,  that  the  date  of  the  Apostacij,  when  consider- 
ed individuailij,  is  the  very  day  and  hour  when  any  single 
Christian  individual  was  first  guilty  of  any  one  of  those 
acts  which  characterize  the  Apostucy ;  and  it  is  equally 

*  In  one  point,  however,  I  certainly  think  his  Lordship  mistaken.  He  singularly 
confounds,  as  it  appears  from  his  citations,  the  man  (;/ji«,\vhom  he  rightly  judges  to 
be  thejirst  hi  tie  horn  mentioned  by  Danitl,  botii  with  the  second  little  horn,  and  with 
the  ihig  -who  magnifud  himself  above  every  god.  Thus  he  makes  the  tivo  little  horns  anc 
the  king  to  be  all  one  and  the  same po-wer ;  herein  being  inconsistent  even  with  his  ow» 
scheme  of  interpretation,  which  had  previously  represented  the  second  little  born  as 
the  Roman  Empire  iniKiding  the  East  by  ivay  of  Maceduiu  Mr.  Kett,  agreeably  to  his 
tavourite  plan  of  double  accomplishments  of  the  same  prophecy,  fancies,  that  the  rruv. 
»f  sin  is  at  once  both  the  Papal  and  tie  InJiJe ' pozcer.  (Compare  Hist,  the  Interp  VoLii. 
p.  '23,  24.  with  Vtil.i.  p.  .'581.)  I  shall  hereafter  shew,  that  such  a  pLin  is  altogether 
untenable. 


35 

manifest,  that  this  date  never  can  be  ascertained  by  man^ 
but  is  known  unto  God  alone.  VV^e  can  say,  indeed,  in 
general  terms,  that  monkish  celibacy,  and  a  superstitious 
veneration  of  saints  and  angels,  were  creeping  fast  into 
the  Church  during  the  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  centuries; 
but  we  shall  find  it  impossible  to  point  out  the  precise 
year  of  their  commencement.  Such  being  the  case, 
Daniel  and  St.  John,  in  their  chronological  prophecies, 
consider  the  Apostacy  only  in  its  public  and  authorized 
capacity  ;  and  teach  us  to  esteem  the  1260  years,  as  being 
the  period  of  the  public  dominance  of  the  Apostacij^  not 
of  its  individual  continuance.  Accordingly  they  both 
specify,  with  much  exactness,  the  era,  from  which  those 
years  are  to  be  computed.  Daniel  directs  us  to  date 
them  from  the  time  when  the  saints  were  bij  some  public 
act  of  the  state  delivered  into  the  hand  of  the  little  horn  : 
and  St.  John,  in  a  similar  manner,  teaches  us  to  date 
them  from  the  time  when  the  zooman,  the  true  Churchy 
fled  into  the  ivilderness  from  the  face  of  the  serpent  : 
when  the  mystic  city  of  God  began  to  be  trampled  under 
foot  by  a  new  race  of  Gentiles,  or  idolaters  ;  when  the 
great  Roman  beast ^  which  had  been  slain  by  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel,  revived  in  its  bestial  character,  by  set- 
ting up  an  idolatrous  spiritual  tyrant  in  the  Church,  or, 
as  Daniel  expresses  it,  by  delivering  the  saints  into  the 
hand  of  such  a  tyrant ;  and  when  the  zvitnesses  began  to 
prophesy  in  slackcloth.  A  date,  which  will  answer  to 
these  concurring  particulars,  can  certainly  have  no  con- 
nection with  the  mere  acquisition  of  a  temporal  princi- 
pality by  the  Pope.  It  seems  most  probably  to  be  the 
year,  in  which  the  Bishop  of  Rome  was  constituted  su- 
preme head  of  the  Church  with  the  proud  title  of  Uni- 
versal Bishop  :  for  by  such  an  act  the  whole  Churchy 
comprehending  both  good  and  bad,  both  the  saints  of  the 
Most  High  and  those  who  were  tainted  with  thegentil- 
ism  of  the  Apostacif  considered  individually.,  were  formal- 
ly given  by  the  chief  secular  power,  the  head  of  the  Roman 
JSmpire^'mto  the  hand  of  the  encroaching /-i///e  horn.  This 
year  was  the  year  606,  when  the  reigning  EtnperorPho- 
cas,  the  representative  of  the  sixth  head  of  the  beast,  de- 
clared Pope  Boniface  to  be  Univej^sai  Bishop  :  and  the 


33 

Roman  church  hath  ever  since  shewn  itself  to  be  that  lit- 
tie  horn^  into  whose  hands  the  saints  were  then  delivered, 
by  styling  itself,  with  equal  absurdity  and  presumption, 
the  Catholic  or  universal  Church.  The  year  606  then 
seems  to  be  the  date  q>{  the  1260  years,  and  the  era  of 
what  St.  Paul  terms  the  revelation  of  the  man  of  sin.  The 
Apostacij,  in  its  individual  capa-city,  was  already  in  exist- 
ence previous  to  such  revelation  ;  hence  he  represents  it 
as  commencing  before  it :  but,  as  soon  as  the  man  of  sin 
was  openly  revealed  by  having  the  saints  delivered  into 
his  hand,  then  apparently  commenced  the  I960  i/ears  of 
the  Apostacif  in  its  public  and  dominant  capacity.* 

Hitherto  I  have  spoken  only  of  the  'icestern  Aposfac?/ 
of  the  Romish  church,  predicted  by  St.  Paul,  and  repre- 
sented by  Daniel  under  the  symbol  of  a  little  horn  spring- 
ing up  out  of  the  fourth  or  Roman  beast,  which  should 
exercise  a  tyrannical  authority  over  the  saints  during  the 
period  of  1260  years ;  1  must  now  notice  the  contempo- 
rarij  eastern  Apostacy  of  Mohummedism. 

In  the  Apocalypse,  St.  John  describes  the  origin  of  this 
false  religion  at  the  beginning  of  the  first  ivoe-trumpet ; 
the  blast  of  which  introduces,  in  the  self -same  year  606, 
the  universal  episcopacij  of  the  Roman  prelate,  and  the 
commencement  of  Mohummedism.  From  the  description, 
which  he  gives  us  of  the  rise  of  Mohummedism,  it  appears, 
that  we  are  to  consider  it  in  the  light  of  an  apostacy  no 
less  than  Popery,  though  an  apostacy  doubtless  of  a  very 
different  nature.  A  star  which  had  fallen  from  heaven, 
or  an  apostate  Christian  minister,  is  said  to  open  the  bot- 

'*  I  with  pleasure  strengthen  mvself  with  the  concurring  opinion  of  Mr.  Whitaker, 
relative  to  the  proper  mode  of  dating  the  1260  yiars ;  and  the  more  so,  because  my 
own  sentiments  on  the  subject  were  decidedly  formed,  so  far  as  we  may  be  allowed 
to  form  sentiments  on  such  a  subject,  previous  to  my  knowing  what  he  had  written 
respecting  it.  "  When  then  were  they  ftie  saints  J  thus  given  into  his  ftht  little  horns) 
hand ;  and  any  authority,  that  may  be  called  universal,  granted  to  the  Pope  ?  Was  it 
not,  when  he  was  first  acknowledged  Universal  Bishop  ?  Then  did  he  become  a  mon- 
arch diverse  from  the  first.  Then  were  the  souls  of  men,  an  article  of  merchandize 
in  the  mystic  Babylon,  given  into  his  hand.  And  so  well  was  this  title  deemed  to 
merit  the  reproach  of  speaking  great  things,  that  Mr.  Gibbon  has  made  the  follow- 
ing remark  on  Gregorj^  '  In  his  ri-val  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople.,  he  condemned  the 
Antichrisiian  title  of  Uni-jersal  Bishop,  -which  the  successor  of  St.  Peter  -was  too  haughty  to 
concede,  and  too  feeble  to  assume.'  Yet,  within  a  few  years,  in  the  year  606,  did  Bonilace 
assume  the  title  of  Universal  Bishop,  in  virtue  of  a  grant  from  the  tyrant  Phocas." 
,  General  and  connected  View  of  the  Prophecies,  p.  207,  208. 
VOL.  I.  5 


3i 

tomless  pit,  and  to  let  out  Apolhjon  and  h\s  Jigurafive  lo-- 
ciists  :  and  we  shall  find,  in  exact  harmony  with  the 
prophecy,  that  Mohammedism  is  in  reahty  a  sort  of  cor- 
rupted and  apostate  Christittnitij.  Like  the  divine  relig- 
ion of  the  Messiah,  it  claims  to  be  a  revelation  from  God 
at  the  hand  of  an  inspired  prophet,  to  call  the  world  from 
the  vanities  of  polytheism  to  the  worship  of  the  one  true 
God,  and  to  declare  authoritatively  a  state  of  future  re- 
wards and  punishments.  Like  the  Gospel,  it  professes 
to  build  itself  upon  the  Law  of  Moses  ;  and  allows  the 
divine  commission  both  of  the  Jewish  legislator,  and  of 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God.  But,  borrowing  the  pecu- 
liar tenet  of  the  /^///e;^  6/«r,  it  pronounces  the  Saviour 
of  the  world  to  be  a  mere  mortal,  and  makes  void  the 
whole  of  the  Gospel  ;  it  contaminates,  with  licentious 
impurity  the  doctrine  of  future  retribution  ;  it  presump- 
tuously thrusts  the  Messiah  from  his  office  ;  and,  like  its 
fellow  apostacy  Popery,  it  propagates  and  upholds  itself 
by  the  sword.  It  appears,  moreover,  from  a  computation 
which  will  hereafter  be  made  from  the  numbers  of  Dan- 
iel, that,  like  Popery,  it  is  to  reign  precisely  1260  years ; 
and  consequently,  since  both  these  apostacies  commenced 
in  the  same  year,  that  they  are  both  likewise  to  begin  to 
be  overthrown  in  the  sa??ie  year.  Of  this  period  nearly 
iwehe  centuries  have  already  elapsed  :  we  are  therefore 
fast  approaching  to  the  time  of  the  end,  and  to  the  day  of 
God's  controversy  with  the  nations.  The  prosperous 
duration  then  of  Mohammedism  being  the  very  same  as 
the  prosperous  duration  oi Popery,^  and  each  being  con- 
sidered by  the  inspired  writers  as  an  apostacif  or  deflec- 
tion from  pure  Christianity,  we  shall  not  wonder  to  find 
them  both  represented  by  the  very  same  symbol  of  a  little 
horn.  Accordingly,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  Daniel  de- 
scribes Poperif,  or  the  western  apostacif  of  the  man  of  sin, 
tinder  the  image  of  «  little  horn  springing  up  among  the 
ten  contemporary  horns  of  the  Roman  beast :  while  he 
predicts  the  tyranny  oi Mohammedism, o\  the  eastern  apos- 
tacy  founded  upon  the  anti-trinitarian  doctrines  of  the 
fallen  star,  under  the  kindred  image  of  another  little  horn 

*  -The  reader  will  of  course  understand,  'that  I  mean  Popery  properly  st>  called,  or 
tie  reign  of  the  little  horn  after  the  saints  had  been  given  into  his  band. 


35 

arising  out  of  the  ruins  of  one  of  the  four  Greek  horns  oj' 
the  Macedonian  Least* 

These  two  great  enemies  of  the  Gospel  flourish  during 
the  whole  space  of  the  1260  years  comprehended  under 
the  three  zcoe-trumpets  :  a  third  enemy  is  predicted  as 
arising  towards  the  close  of  those  years,  as  continuing 
only  a  short  space  of  time^  and  as  perishing  firmly 
leagued  Avith  Popery  at  the  very  time  of  the  end  or  after 
the  termination  of  the  1260  years.  St.  John  brings  him 
upon  the  grand  stage  of  the  world  with  the  blast  of  the 
third  icoe-trumpet^  and  foretells  that  his  open  develope- 
ment  should  be  immediately  preceded  by  the  fall  of  a 
tenth  part  of  the  great  Roman  citij.  Tiie  miseries,  with 
which  he  should  afflict  mankind,  he  figuratively  de- 
scribes as  a  harvest  of  God^s  ic rath  which  should  precede 
the  dreadful  vintage  of  the  time  of  the  end  ;  and  he  sets 
forth  more  distinctly  the  nature  of  those  miseries  under 
the  pouring  out  of  a  certain  number  of  the  seven  vials. 
Daniel  describes  the  same  poicer,  as  a  king  or  state  rising 
up  after  the  era  of  the  Reformation^  and  marked  by  a 
lawless  contempt  for  all  religion.  And  St.  Paul,  St.  Pe- 
ter, and  St.  Jude,  concur  in  describing  with  wonderful 
accuracy  the  principles  which  should  be  adopted  by  the 
adherents  of  this pozcer.  As  for  St.  John,  in  addition  to 
what  he  has  said  upon  the  subject  in  the  Apocalypse, 
he  teaches  us,  that  the  leading  badge,  whereby  this  mon- 

*  Here  again  I  shall  strengthen  myself  with  the  concurrence  of  Mr.  Whitaker  ; 
and  I  mav  here  again  observe,  that  my  own  opinion  relative  to  tie  little  born  cf  th: 
be-goat  was  formed  previous  to  my  knowing  what  was  Mr.  Whitaker's  opinion  on 
the  subject.  "  In  the  seventh  chapter  of  Daniel  there  is  evidently  given  the  predic- 
tion of  the  man  of  sin,  or  the  slavery  of  the  Western  empire  ;  and  in  the  eighth  appears 
to  be  described  the  rise  and  progress  of  Mohammed  and  his  folloivers,  or  the  subjugation  of 
the  Eastern.  I  here  use  the  language  of  hesitation,  not  from  any  doubt,  but  from  a 
sincere  desire  to  avoid  any  juft  imputation  of  arrogance  in  bringing  forward  an  in- 
terpretation, in  which  I  am  not  patronized  by  any  preceding  writer.  Let  however 
only  the  latter  part  of  the  vision  of  the  Ram  and  the  Goat  be  seriously  considered; 
and  I  think  the  rise,  the  progress,  and  the  character,  of  Mohammed  will  be  "  fully  mani- 
fest." (Gen.  View  of  the  Proph.  p.  91,  92.)  Mr.  Whitaker  would  have  expressed 
himself  with  greater  accuracy  had  he  considered  the  little  horn  as  being  Mohammsdism, 
instead  of  Mohammed  and  his  follo-wers.  His  present  mode  of  interpreting  the  proph- 
ecy has  led  him  into  the  error  of  applying  the  expression,  "  he  shall  be  broken  with- 
out hand,"  (Dan.  viii.  25.)  to  the  dzuindling  a-way  of  the  Saracenic  empire  and  the  person- 
al fall  of  Mohammed  ;  whereas  it  relates  to  the  destruction  of  ii^  little  hern  itself  or 
the  Mohammedan  religion  at  the  end  of  the  period  mentioned  in  the  I4rii  verse  ;  for, 
if  the  king  offeree  countenance  be  the  little  horn,  the  breaking  of  the  king  must  be  the  break' 
ing  of  the  horn.    Gen.  View  ef  the  Proph.  p.  134. 


ster  whom  he  styles  Anfichrist  might  be  known,  should 
be  an  open  denial  of  the  Father  and  the  Son* 

At  the  coniuie)tcement  of  the  time  of  the  end  which  syn- 
chronjzps  with  the  termination  of  the  1260  years^  when 
the  judgments  of  God  begin  to  go  forth  against  these 
three  enemies  of  the  Messiah,  the  restoration  oj' the  Je'Ji's 
will  commence;  and,  when  God^s  great  controversif  with 
the  nations  is  fully  decided,  and  when  not  only  Judah 
but  likewise  the  zchole  house  of  Israel  has  been  brought 
back  into  the  land  of  their  fathers,  then  will  begin  the 
long-expected  period  of  rnillennian  happiness.  This  pe- 
riod, which  is  styled  the  reign  oj  Christ  and  his  saints 
upon  earth  or  the  reign  of  the  sijmbolical  mountain^  will 
comprize  the  space  either  of  1000  ifears  or  of  360,000 
years,  according  as  the  number  predicted  be  composed 
of  natural  or  prophetic  years.  Which  of  the  two  be  in- 
tended by  St.  John,  the  event  must  determine. 

These  are  the  principal  matters,  of  which  the  proph- 
ecies relative  to  the  1260  years  will  be  found  to  treat. 
Previous  to  my  discussing  them  at  large,  I  shall  bring 
together  in  one  point  of  view  the  four  predictions  oi 
Daniel  which  relate  to  them,  and  afterwards  briefly  state 
the  manner  in  which  I  conceive  the  Apocalypse  ought 
to  be  arranged. 

1.  The  first  of  these  four  predictions  is  the  dream  of 
Nebuchadnezzar  with  Daniel's  interpretation  of  it. 

"  Thou,  O  king,  sawest ;  and,  behold,  a  great  image. 
This  great  image,  whose  brightness  was  excellent, 
stood  before  thee  ;  and  the  form  thereof  was  terrible. 
This  image's  head  was  of  fine  gold,  his  breast  and  his 
arms  of  silver,  his  belly  and  his  thighs  of  brass,  his  legs 
of  iron,  his  feet  part  of  iron  and  part  of  clay.  Thou 
sawest,  till  that  a  stone  was  cut  out  without  hands, 
which  smote  the  image  upon  his  feet  that  were  of  iron 
and  clay,  and  brake  them  to  pieces.  Then  was  the  iron, 
the  clay,  and  the  brass,  the  silver  and  the  gold,  broken 
to  pieces  together,  and  became  like  the  chaff"  of  the  sum- 
mer threshing  floors  ;  and  the  wind  carried  them  away, 
that  no  place  was  found  for  them  :  and  the  stone,  that 

*  1  John  ii.  22. 


37 

smote  the  image,  became  a  great  mountain,  and  filled 
the  whole  earth.  This  is  the  dream,  and  we  will  tell 
the  interpretation  thereof  before  the  king — Thou  art  this 
head  of  gold.  But  after  thee  shall  arise  another  king- 
dom inferior  to  thee,  and  another  third  kingdom  of  brass, 
which  shall  rule  over  all  the  earth.  And  the  fourth 
kingdom  shall  be  strong  as  iron  :  forasmuch  as  iron 
breaketh  in  pieces  and  subdueth  all  things  :  and,  as  iron 
that  breaketh,  all  these  shall  it  break  in  pieces  and  bruise. 
And,  whereas  thou  sawest  the  feet  and  toes,  part  of  pot- 
ter's clay,  and  part  of  iron  ;  the  kingdom  shall  be  divid- 
ed ;  but  there  shall  be  in  it  of  the  strength  of  the  iron, 
forasmuch  as  thou  sawest  the  iron  mixed  with  miry  clay. 
And,  as  the  toes  of  the  feet  were  part  of  iron  and  part 
of  clay,  so  the  kingdom  shall  be  partly  strong  and  partly 
broken.  And,  whereas  thou  sawest  iron  mixed  with 
miry  clay,  they  shall  mingle  themselves  with  the  seed  of 
men  :  but  they  shall  not  cleave  one  to  another,  even  as 
iron  is  not  mixed  with  clay.  And  in  the  days  of  these 
kings  shall  the  God  of  heaven  set  up  a  kingdom,  which 
shall  never  be  destroyed  :  and  the  kingdom  shall  not  be 
to  other  people  ;  but  it  shall  break  in  pieces  and  con- 
sume all  these  kingdoms,  and  it  shall  stand  for  ever."* 

2.  The  second  is  Daniel's  vision  of  the  Jour  beastSy 
and  the  little  horn  of  the  fourth  beast. 

"  I  saw  in  my  vision  by  night ;  and,  behold,  the  four 
winds  of  heaven  strove  upon  the  great  sea.  And  four 
great  beasts  came  up  from  the  sea,  diverse  from  one  an- 
other The  first  was  like  a  lion,  and  had  eagle's  wings: 
I  beheld  till  the  wings  thereof  were  plucked,  and  it  was 
lifted  up  from  the  earth,  and  made  stand  upon  the  feet  as 
a  man  ;  and  a  man's  heart  was  given  to  it.  And  behold 
another  beast,  a  second,  like  to  a  bear ;  and  it  raised  up 
itself  on  one  side,  and  it  had  three  ribs  in  the  mouth  of 
it  between  the  teeth  of  it :  and  they  said  thus  unto  it, 
Arise,  devour  much  flesh.  After  this  I  beheld,  and  lo 
another,  like  a  leopard,  which  had  upon  the  back  of  it 
four  wings  of  a  fowl ;  the  beast  had  also  four  heads  ;  and 
dominion  was  given  to  it.     After  this  1  saw  in  the  night 

*Dan.  ii.  31. 


38 

visions,  and  behold  a  fourth  beast,  dreadful  and  terrible 
and  strong  exceedingly  ;  and  it  had  great  iron  teeth  :  it 
devoured  and  brake  in  pieces,  and  stamped  the  residue 
with  the  feet  of  it  :  and  it  was  diverse  from  all  the  beasts 
that  were  before  it ;  and  it  had  ten  horns.  1  considered 
the  horns  ;  and,  behold,  there  came  up  among  them  an- 
other little  horn,  before  whom  three  of  the  first  horns 
were  plucked  up  by  the  roots  :  and,  behold,  in  this  horn 
were  eyes  like  the  eyes  of  a  man,  and  a  mouth  speaking 
great  things.  1  belield,  till  the  thrones  were  set,  and  the 
Ancient  of  days  did  sit,  whose  garment  was  white  as 
snow,  and  the  hair  of  his  head  like  the  pure  wool :  his 
throne  was  like  the  fiery  flame,  and  his  wheels  as  burn- 
ing fire.  A  fiery  stream  issued  and  came  forth  from  be- 
fore him  :  thousand  thousands  ministered  unto  him, 
and  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  stood  before  him  : 
the  judgment  was  set,  and  the  books  were  opened. 
I  beheld  then  because  of  the  voice  of  the  great  words 
which  the  horn  spake  :  I  beheld  even  till  the  beast 
was  slain,  and  his  body  destroyed,  and  given  to  the 
burning  flame.  As  concerning  the  rest  of  the  beasts, 
they  had  their  dominion  taken  away  :  yet  their  lives 
were  prolonged  for  a  season  and  a  time.  I  saw  in 
the  night  visions  ;  and,  behold,  one  like  the  Son  of 
man  came  with  the  clouds  of  heaven,  and  came  to  the 
Ancient  of  days,  and  they  brought  him  near  before  him. 
And  there  was  given  him  dominion,  and  glory  and  a 
kingdom,  that  all  people,  nations,  and  languages,  should 
serve  him  :  his  dominion  is  an  everlasting  dominion, 
which  shall  not  pass  away,  and  his  kingdom  that  which 
shall  not  be  destroyed.  1,  Daniel,  was  grieved  in  my 
spirit  in  the  midst  of  my  body,  and  the  visions  of  my  head 
troubled  me.  I  came  near  unto  one  of  them  that  stood 
by,  and  asked  him  the  truth  of  all  this.  So  he  told  me, 
and  made  me  know  the  interpretation  of  the  things. 
These  great  beasts,  which  are  four,  are  four  kings,  which 
shall  arise  out  of  the  earth.  But  the  saints  of  the  Most 
High  shall  take  the  kingdom,  and  possess  the  kingdom 
for  ever,  even  for  ever  and  ever.  Then  I  would  know  the 
truth  of  the  fourth  beast,  which  was  diverse  from  all  the 
others,  exceeding  dreadful,  whose  teeth  were  of  iron,  and 


his  nails  of  brass  ;  which  devoured,  brake  in  pieces,  and 
stamped  the  residue  with  his  feet ;  and  of  the  ten  horns 
that  were  in  his  head  ;  and  of  the  other  which  came  up, 
and  before  whom  three  fell  ;  even  of  the  horn  that  had 
eyes,  and  a  mouth  that  spake  very  great  things,  whose 
look  was  more  stout  than  his  fellows.     1  beheld,  and  the 
same   horn    made  war    with   the   saints,    and   prevailed 
against  them  ;  until  the  Ancient  of  days  came,  and  judg- 
ment was  given  to  the  saints  of  the  Most  High  ;  and  the 
time  came  that  the  saints  possessed  the  kingdom.     Thus 
he  said.  The  fourth   beast  shall  be  the   fourth  kingdom 
upon   earth,  which   shall  be   diverse  from  all  kingdoms, 
and   shall   devour  the  whole   earth,   and   shall   tread  it 
down,  and  break  it  in   pieces.     And  the  ten  horns  are 
ten  kings  that  shall  arise  out  of  this  kingdom  :  and  anoth- 
er shall  rise  behind  them  ;*  and  he  shall  be  diverse  from 
the  first,  and  he  shall  subdue  three  kings.     And  he  shall 
speak  great  words  by  the  side  of  the  Most  High-j",  and 
shall  wear  out  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  and  think  to 
change  times  and  laws  :  and  they  shall  be  given  into  his 
hand  until  a  time,  and  times,  and  the  dividing  of  a  time. 
But  the  judgment  shall  sit,  and  they  shall  take  away  his 
dominion,  to  consume  and  to  destroy  it  unto  the  end. 
And  the  kingdom,  and  dominion,  and  the  greatness  of 
the  kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven,  shall  be  given  to 
the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  whose  king- 
dom is  an  everlasting  kingdom,  and  all  dominions  shall 
serve  and  obey  him."^ 

*  I  have  adopted  this  translation  of  the  passage  from  Mr.  Mede ;  who,  instead  of 

I    after  the  kingdoms,  would  render  the  original  expresbion  behind  them,  following  thereia 

the  Greek  version  oTti'ia  a.-uTXJ  :  and  he  takes  the  meaning  to  be,  that  the  ten  harm 

II    were  not  aware  of  the  growing  up  of  the  little  horn,  till  it  overtopped  them.     (Works 
Book  iv.  Epist.  24.)     In  reality  the  little  horn,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  did  not  spring 
up  posterior  in  point  of  time  to  the  other  horns,  but  gradually  arose  among  them  dur- 
ing the  turbulent  period  in  which  the  Roman  empire  was  broken  into  ten  kingdoms  by 
I   the  northern  nations. 

f  This  is  the  literal  translation  of  the  original  passage  :  and  its  import  I  appre- 
hend to  be,  not  that  the  little  horn  should  speak  great  words  against  the  Most  High, 
but  that  he  should  arrogantly  place  himself  upon  an  equality  with  God ;  or,  as  St. 
Paul  expresses  it,  that  he  should  sit  as  God  in  the  temple  of  God,  shewing  himself 
that  he  is  God.  Symmachus  appears  to  me  to  come  much  nearer  the  real  meaning 
of  the  expression  than  our  present  English  version  :  "  Ut  interpretatus  est  Symma- 
chus, ifrrafinw  quasi  Dius  loquetur."  Hieron.  Comment.  Vol.  iii.  p.  1103.  cited  by 
Bishop  Newtoa, 

i  Dau,  vii.  2, 


40 

3.  The  third  is  the  vision  of  the  ram  and  the  he-goat^ 
and  the  Itttle  horn  which  was  to  spring  out  o^  one  of  the 
four  horns  of  the  he-goat. 

"  1  lifted  LijD  mine  eyes,  and  saw  ;  and,  behold,  there 
stood  before  the  river  a  ram  which  had  two  horns:  and 
the  two  horns  were  high  ;  but  one  was  higher  than  the 
other,  and  the  higher  came  up  last.  1  saw  the  ram 
pushing  westward,  and  northward,  and  southward  ;  so 
that  no  beasts  might  stand  before  him,  neither  was  there 
any  that  could  deliver  out  of  his  hand  ;  but  he  did  ac- 
cording to  his  will  and  became  great.  And,  as  I  was 
considering,  behold,  an  he-goat  came  from  the  west  on 
the  face  of  the  whole  earth,  and  touched  not  the  ground  : 
and  the  he-goat  had  a  notable  horn  between  his  eyes. 
And  he  came  to  the  ram  that  had  two  horns,  which  I 
liad  seen  standing  before  the  river,  and  ran  unto  him  in 
the  fury  of  his  power.  And  I  saw  him  come  close  unto 
the  ram,  and  he  was  moved  with  choler  against  him,  and 
smote  the  ram,  and  brake  his  two  horns :  and  there  was 
no  power  in  the  ram  to  stand  before  him,  but  he  cast 
him  down  to  the  ground,  and  stamped  upon  him  ;  and 
there  was  none  that  could  deliver  the  ram  out  of  his 
hand.  Therefore  the  he-goat  waxed  very  great :  and, 
when  he  was  strong,  the  great  horn  was  broken  ;  and  for 
it  came  up  four  notable  ones  toward  the  four  winds  of 
heaven.  And  out  of  one  of  them  came  forth  a  little 
horn,  vi^hich  waxed  exceeding  great  toward  the  south, 
and  toward  the  east,  and  toward  the  pleasant  land.  And 
it  waxed  great  even  against  the  host  of  heaven  ;  and  it 
cast  down  some  of  the  host  and  of  the  stars  to  the  ground, 
and  stamped  upon  them.  Yea,  he  magnified  himself 
even  against  the  Prince  of  the  host ;  and  by  him  the  daily 
sacrifice  was  taken  away,  and  the  place  of  his  sanctuary 
was  cast  down.  And  the  host  was  given  over  to  him  by 
reason  of  their  transgression  against  the  daily  sacrifice  ; 
and  it  cast  down  the  truth  to  the  ground,  and  it  practised, 
and  prospered.  Then  I  heard  one  saint  speaking,  and 
another  saint  said  unto  that  certain  saint  which  spake, 
For  how  long  a  time  shall  the  vision  last,  the  daily  sac- 
rifice be  taken  away,  and  the  transgression  of  desolation 
continue,  to  give  both  the  sanctuary  and  the  host  to  be 


41 

trodden  under  foot  ?*  And  he  said  unto  me,  Until  two 
thousand  and  three  hundred  days  ;-|'  then  shall  the  sanc- 
tuary be  cleansed.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  I,  even 
I  Daniel,  had  seen  the  Vision,  and  sought  for  the  mean- 
ing ;  then,  behold,  there  stood  before  me  as  the  appear- 
ance of  a  man — And  he  said  unto  me,  Understand,  O 
son  of  man,  for  the  Vision  shall  reach  even  unto  the 
time  of  the  endX — And  he  said.  Behold,  I  will  make  thee 
know  what  shall  be  in  the  latter  end  of  the  indignation  : 
for  it  (the  Vision)  shall  reach  even  to  the  appointed  time 
of  the  end.  The  ram,  which  thou  sawest,  having  two 
horns,  are  the  kings  of  (the  united  empire  of)  JNIediaand 
Persia.  And  the  rough  goat  is  the  King  of  Grecia. 
And  the  great  horn,  that  is  between  his  eyes,  is  the  first 
king.  Now,  that  being  broken,  whereas  four  stood  up 
in  its  stead,  four  kingdom.s  shall  stand  up  out  of  the  na- 
tion, but  not  in  his  power.  And,  at  the  end  of  their 
kingdom, §  when  the  transgressors  are  come  to  the  full, 
a  king  of  fierce  countenance,  and  teachingj|  dark  senten- 
ces, shall  stand  up.  And  his  power  shall  be  mighty, 
but  not  by  his  own  power  ;  and  he  shall  destroy  won- 
derfully, and  shall  prosper,  and  practise,  and  shall  destroy 
the  mighty  and  the  people  of  the  holy  ones.  And 
through  his  policy  also  he  shall  cause  craft  to  prosper  in 
his  hand  ;  and  he  shall  magnify  himself  in  his  heart,  and 
he  shall  destroy  many  in  negligent  security.^     He  shall 

*  See  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  xv. 

f  The  Seventy  read  2400  liays,  and  certain  copies  mentioned  by  Jerome  2200  days. 
These  varying  numbers  will  be  discussed  hereafter. 

I  So  the  Lxx  and  the  Arabic  version  translate  this  passage,  and  I  believe  very 
rightly,  as  the  context  indeed  sufficiently  shews.  It  had  just  before  been  declared^ 
tliat  the  length  of  the  vision  should  be  2300  days :  it  is  now  declared,  that  the  vision 
should  be  to  the  time  of  the  end  or  to  the  termination  of  those  days  :  and  it  is  immediately 
after  declared,  that  it  should  be  to  the  appointed  time  of  the  end.  All  these  seem  to  be 
only  different  modes  of  specifying  the  same  thing,  namely  ivhat  the  angel  considered  to 
be  the  length  of  the  "vision. 

§  The  meaning  of  tlie  expression  (if  we  may  jiidge  from  the  symbolical  part  of 
the  prophecy,)  is,  not  during  the  latter  period  of  their  kingdom,  but  after  the  complete  ter- 
mination of  their  kingdom  :  that  is  to  say,  the  king  of  fierce  countenance  was  to  stand  up, 
not  ivhile  they  ivere  yet  reigning,  but  some  time  or  other  after  they  had  ceased  to  reign. 

II  The  word,  here  used  in  the  original,  is  in  the  Hiphil  or  causal  form  :  whence 
It  will  not  signify  understanding,  as  it  is  rendered  in  our  English  translation,  but  caus- 
ing to  understand,  or  teachinv. 

t  I  conceive  the  phrase  to  mean,  "  he  shall  destroy  many  while  in  a  state  of  neg- 
ligent security,  and  little  stispccting  that  any  attack  would  be  made  upon  then?  from 
VOL,   J.  6  ' 


42 

also  stand  up  against  the  prince  of  princes  ;  but  he  shall 
be  broken  without  hand.     And  the  Vision  of  the  '^vpr. 
ing  and  the  morning,  which  was  told,  is  true :  wheretore 
shut  thou  up  the  Vision  ;  for  it  shall  be  for  many  days."* 

4.  i  he  fourth  is  contained  in  the  latter  end  of  the  elev- 
enth Chapter^  and  extends  to  the  conclusion  of  the  Book, 

"  And  after  him  (Antiochus  Epiphanes|)  arms  shall 
stand  up,  and  they  shall  pollute  the  sanctuary  of  strength, 
and  shall  take  away  the  daily  sacrifice,  and  they  shall 
place  the  abomination  that  maketh  desolate.  And  such 
vas  do  wickedly  against  the  covenant  he  shall  cause  to 
dissemble;!:  with  flatteries  :  but  the  people,  that  do  know 
their  God,  shall  be  strong  and  do  exploits.  And  they 
that  understand  among  the  people  shall  instruct  many  : 
yet  they  shall  fall  by  the  sword  and  by  flame,  by  captivity 
and  by  spoil,  many  days.  Now,  when  they  shall  fall, 
they  shall  be  holpen  with  a  little  help  :  but  many  shall 
cleave  to  them  with  flatteries.  And  some  of  them  of 
understanding  shall  fall§  in  purifying  them,  and  in  purg- 
ing them,  and  in  making  them  white,  even  to  the  time  of 
the  end  :  because  it  is  yet  unto  the  time  appointed.  And 
(after  this  second  persecution  of  the  men  of  understand- 
ing) a  king  shall  do  according  to  his  will  ;  and  he  shall 
exalt  himself,  and   magnify   himself  above  every  god, 

that  quarter."  (See  Parkhurst's  Heb.  Lex.  Vox.  nbtr.)  The  Seventy  and  the  Ara- 
bic translate  the  passage  "  he  shall  destroy  many  by  fraud,"  which  conveys  an  idea 
nearly  iimilar.  There  is  a  passage  in  the  book  of  Judges,  which  is  an  excellent  com- 
ment on  these  words  of  the  prophet.  "  Then  the  five  men  departed,  and  came  to 
Laish,  and  saw  the  people  that  were  therein,  hoivthey  divelt  careless,  after  the  manner 
of  the  Zidonians,  quiet  and  secure. — And  they  c^ime  unto  Laish,  unto  a  people  that 
were  at  quiet  and  secure  :  and  they  smote  them  with  the  edge  of  the  sword,  and  burnt 
the  city  with  fire."  (Judg.  xviii.  7,  27.)  The  same  idea  occurs  in  the  book  of 
Proverbs  :  "  Devise  not  evil  against  thy  neighbour,  seeing  he  divelleth  securely  by  thee.^' 
(Prov.  iiL  29.  See  also  Ezek.  xxxviii.  1 1.)  Tacitus  uses  a  similar  mode  of  expres- 
sion. "  In  latere  Chaucorum  '1  attorumque,  Cherusci  nimiam  ac  marcentem  diu  pa- 
cem  illacessiti  nutrierunt  :  idque  jucundius  quam  tutius  fuit  ;  quia  inter  impotentes 
ac  vAidos falsa  quiescas"     Tac.  de  mor.  Germ.  C.  36. 

*  Dan.  viii.  .'?. 

f  See  Sir  Isaac  Newton's  Observ.  on  Dan.  c.  12.  p.  188,  189. 

\  The  Arabic  version  and  the  lxx  read  this  verb  plurally  ;  and  I  firmly  believe 
tliat  such  is  the  proper  reading,  for  the  Roman  arms  are  here  spoken  of.  Hence,  as 
it  is  said,  they  (the  arms)  shall  pollute,  they  shall  take  aivay,  they  shall  place  ;  SO  it  seems 
to  have  been  likewise  originally  said,  they  shall  cause  to  dissemble. 

§  That  is  perish.  The  word  used  here  is  the  same  as  that  which  occurs  immedi- 
ately above,  when  the  men  of  understanding  are  said  to  fall  by  the  sword  and  by 
flame. 


43 

and  shall  speak  marvellous  things  against  the  God  of 
gods,  and  shall  prosper  till  the  indignation  be  accom- 
plished :  for  that,  that  is  determined,  shall  be  done. 
Neither  shall  he  regard  the  God  of  his  fathers,  nor  (him 
who  is)  the  desire  of  women,*  nor  regard  any  god  :  for 
he  shall  magnify  himself  above  them  all.  Yet,  when  he 
is  established  (in  power,)  he  shall  honour  tutelary  gods 
together  with  a  godf  ;  even,  together  with  a  god 
whom  his  fathers  knew  not,  he  shall  honour  them  with 
gold,  and  silver,  and  with  precious  stones,  and  desirable 
things:  and  he  shall  practise:^:  (prosperously).  Unto  the 
upholders  of  his  tutelary  gods,§  together  with  the  foreign 
god  whom  he  shall  acknowledge,  he  shall  multiply  glo- 
ry :  and  he  shall  cause  them  to  rule  over  many  :  and  he 
shall  divide  the  land  (among  them,  selling  it)  for  a  price. 
And  at  the  lime  of  the  end  a  king  of  the  South  shall 
butt  at  him  ;  and  a  king  of  the  north  shall  come  against 
him  like  a  whirlwind,  with  chariots,  and  with  horsemen, 

*  Such,  I  am  convinced,  is  the  proper  translation  of  the  phrase  D-CJ  71^211. 
It  means,  not  the  desire  of  ivomen  by  others,  or  the  -wish  to  ha-ue  ivomen  ;  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, that  -which  ivomen  themsehet  desired  to  have.  This  point  will  be  discussed  at 
large  hereafter. 

f  "  Whereas  the  preposition  b  in  nbxb  is  usually  neglected,  I  express  the  prepo- 
sition b,  and  construe  God  and  Mahuz^im  apart  as  two  ;  viz.  To  or  together  ivith,  God 
he  shall  honour  Mahuz-zim.  For  the  preposition  b  is  made  of  bx,  and  signifies  the 
same  with  it,  namely  an  addition  or  adjoining  of  things.,  ad,jtixta,  apud,  to,  besides,  together 
■with  ;    as    Lev.  xviii.    18.    Thou  shah  not  take  a  -wife  to  her   sister  nnnx  bx,  that    is,   to-' 

gether  luith  her  sister^  (Mede's  'Works  Book  III.  Apostacy  of  the  latter  rimes.  Part 
I.  Chap.  16.)  Mr.  Mede  supposes  the  foreign  god  zdored  along  with  the  Mahuzzim 
to  be  Christ ;  and  thence  renders  the  passage  "  together  with  God  he  shall  honour 
Mahuzzim."  The  foreign  god  however,  venerated  by  the  king,  certainly  cannot  be 
Christ,  both  because  the  prophet  had  just  before  declared,  that  the  king  should  speak 
marvellous  things  against  the  God  of  gods ;  and  because,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see, 
he  was  specially  to  reject  the  worship  of  Christ,  here  represented  as  the  desire  of 
•women  or  -wives,  as  Haggai  styles  him  the  Desire  of  all  nations.  On  these  grounds,  I 
render  the  passage  "  together  with  a  god  he  shall  honour  Mahuzzim,"  rather  than 
"  together  with  God  he  shall  honour  Mahuzzim." 

\  "  Faciei,  id  est,  mire  succedet  quicquid  agit."  (Calv.  apud  Pol.  Sjti.  in  loc.) 
"  It  cast  down  the  truth  to  the  ground,  and  it  practised  and  prospered."  (Dan.  viii. 
12.)  The  same  word  is  used  in  the  original  in  both  these  passages.  See  also  Rev. 
xiii.  5,  and  Bishop  Newton's  remarks  upon  the  word  voinaai  in  his  Dissertation 
upon  that  Chanter. 

§  "  c^^ra  nvnnb,  custodibus  Maosim,  ex  1X3 — Liquet  ex  verbo  ab-a^nrr,  dominos 
faciei  eos,  notari  in  vocabulo  -"lyaa  personas,  non  munitiones"  (Houbigant  in  loc. 
cited  by  Bishop  Nev.-ton.)  The  Bishop  himself  considers  the  word  to  mean  defend- 
ers, supporters,  or  champions  :  and  these  champions  he  supposes  to  be  the  popish  priests 
and  monks.  Though  I  entirely  differ  from  his  Lordship  in  the  interpretation  of  the 
prophecy,  and  though  I  am  unable  to  discover  in  it  any  allusion  to  Popery,  yet  1 
think  him  perfectly  right  in  his  translation  of  the  word  in  question. 


44 

and  many  ships.  Yet  he  shall  enter  into  the  countries, 
and  shall  ov.^rtlow,  and  pass  over,  and  shall  enter  into 
the  glorious  land,  and  many  countries  shall  be  over- 
thrown :  but  these  shall  escape  out  of  his  hand,  even 
Edom,  and  Moab,  and  the  chief  of  the  children  of  Am- 
nion. He  shall  stretch  forth  his  hand  also  upon  the 
countries  :  and  the  land  of  Egypt  shall  not  escape.  But 
he  shall  have  power  over  the  treasures  of  gold  and  silver, 
and  over  all  the  precious  things  of  Egypt :  and  the  Liby- 
ans and  the  Ethiopians  shall  be  at  his  steps.  And  tidings 
out  of  the  East  and  out  of  the  North  shall  trouble  him  : 
therefore  he  shall  go  forth  with  great  fury  to  destroy,  and 
to  devote  many  to  utter  destruction  under  the  pretext  of 
religion.*  And  he  shall  plant  the  curtains  of  his  pavil- 
ions between  the  seas  in  the  glorious  holy  mountain  ; 
yet  he  shall  come  to  his  end  and  none  shall  help  him. 
And  at  that  time  shall  Michael  stand  up,  the  great  prince 
which  standeth  up  for  the  children  of  thy  people  :  and 
there  shall  be  a  time  of  trouble,  such  as  never  was  since 
there  was  a  nation  even  to  that  same  time  :  and  at  that 
time  thy  people  shall  be  delivered,  every  one  that  shall 
be  found  written  in  the  book.  And  many  of  them  that 
sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake  ;  some  to  ever- 
lasting life,  and  some  to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt. 
And  they  that  understand"]-  shall  shine  as  the  brightness 
of  the  firmament;  and  they  that  turn  many  to  right- 
eousness as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever.  But  thou,  Dan- 
iel, shut  up  the  words,  and  seal  the  book,  even  to  the 
time  of  the  end  :  many  shall  run  to  and  fro,  and  knowl- 
edge shall  be  increased.  Then  1  Daniel  looked  ;  and, 
behold,  there  stood  other  two,  the  one  on  this  side  of  the 
bank  of  the  river,  and  the  other  on  that  side  of  the  bank 
of  the  river.  And  one  said  to  the  man  clothed  in  linen, 
which  was  above  the  waters  of  the  river.  Until  how  long 
shall  be  the  end  of  the  wonders?  And  1  heard  the  man 
clothed  in  linen,  which  was  above  the  waters  of  the  riv- 
er ;  and  he  held  up  his  right  hand  and  his  left  hand  unto 
heaven,  and  sware  by  hiui  that  liveth  for  ever,  that  it 
shall  be  until  a  time,  and  times,  and  a  half;  and,  when 

*  Heb.  n-'in.-r. 

f  The  persons  mentioned  above  Chap.  xi.  33,  35. 


45 

he  shall  have  finished  to  scatter  the  power  of  the  holy 
people,  all  these  things  shall  be  finished.  And  I  heard, 
but  I  understood  not :  then  said  1,  O  my  Lord,  what  is 
the  end  of  these  things  ?  And  he  said,  Go  thy  way,  Dan- 
iel ;  for  the  words  are  closed  up  and  sealed  till  the  time 
of  the  end.  Many  shall  be  purified,  and  made  white, 
and  tried  ;  but  the  wicked  shall  do  wickedly  :  and  none 
of  the  wicked  shall  understand  ;  but  the  wise  shall  under- 
stand. And  from  the  time  that  the  daily  sacrifice  shall 
be  taken  away,  and  the  abomination  that  maketh  deso- 
late set  up,  there  shall  be  computed  a  thousand  two 
hundred  and  ninety  days.  Blessed  is  he  that  waiteth,  and 
Cometh  to  a  thousand  three  hundred  and  five  and  thirty 
days.  But  go  thou  thy  way  till  the  end  be:  for  thou 
shalt  rest,  and  stand  in  thy  lot,  at  the  end  of  the  days."* 
These  Jvitr  prophecies  of'  Daniel^  when  the  former 
part  of  the  last  of  them  is  added  to  it,  extend  from  his 
ozcn  time  to  the  time  of  the  end^  or  the  termination  of  the 
1260  days — in  the  first  of  them  he  gives  only  the  tem- 
poral history  of  the  world,  bringing  it  down  however  to 
the  spiritual  victories  of  the  stone,  and  the  triumphant 
reign  of  the  mountain — In  the  second^  he  gives  the  same 
history  of  the  world,  under  a  different  set  of  symbols  ; 
further  introducing  a  pozoer^  not  mentioned  before,  under 
the  denomination  of  a  little  horn,  into  whose  hand  the 
saints  of  the  Most  High  were  to  be  delivered  during  the 
space  of  a  time  and  times  and  the  dividing  of  a  time,  or 
three  prophetic  years  and  a  half — In  the  third,  he  gives 
only  a  partial  history  of  the  world  ;  totally  omitting  the 
first  and  the  fourth  great  beasts  or  pagan  empires,  and 
describing  another  -mched  ponder,  under  the  kindred  sym- 
bol of  «  second  little  horn,  which  was  to  come  forth  out 
of  the  dominions  of  the  Macedonian  he-goat,  but  at  the 
last  end,  or  after  the  termination,  of  his  kingdom.  He 
moreover  instructs  us,  that  the  length  of  the  vision,  in- 
cluding the  exploits  of  the  second  little  horn,  should  be 
2J00  days ;  or,  according  to  the  reading  of  the  Seventy, 
2100  days ;  or,  according  to  another  reading  mentioned 
by  Jerome,  2200  days — In  the  fourth  prophecy,  after  de- 

*  Dan.  xi.  31 — 45.  xii.  1 — 13.     The  beginning  of  the  last  of  the  four  prophefies 
I  have  omitted,  as  having  no  immediate  connection  with  my  subject. 


46 

tailing  the  fortunes  of  the  Persian  and  Greek  empires, 
after  noticing  the  Roman  conquests  in  the  East,  and  after 
predicting  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  the  persecutions 
of  the  primitive  Christians,  the  conversion  of  the  Empire 
under  Constantine,  the  declension  of  real  piety,  and  the 
second  persecutions  of  the  reformers  under  Popery  :  after 
he  has  foretold  all  these  particulars  in  regular  chronolog- 
ical succession,  he  introduces  towards  the  close  of  this 
his  last  prophecy  a  third  poicer,  under  the  title  of  a  king 
or  kingdom^  describing  it  in  such  a  manner  as  to  lead  us 
to  conclude  that  it  is  the  Antichrist  predicted  by  St.  John. 
AVhile  the  tyranny  of  this  monster  is  at  the  height,  but 
at  some  indefinite  period  after  its  developement,*  he 
teaches  us,  that  the  great  work  of  the  restoration  of  the 
Jeii's  shall  commence.  He  adds,  that  to  the  end  of  the 
wonders  it  shall  be  three  prophetic  years  and  a  ha-,  f  or 
1:260  prophetic  days  ;  and  that  the  wholef  of  them  shall 
not  be  finished,  till  God  has  ceased  to  scatter  his  ancient 
people,  or,  in  other  words,  till  he  has  begun  to  restore 
them.  He  next  informs  us,  that  from  the  taking  away  of 
the  daily  sacrifice^  and  the  setting  up  of  the  abomination 
of  desolation^  there  shall  be  1290  daiis^  which  is  exactly 
30  daijs  more  than  the  former  number  ;  but  he  does  not 
tell  us  what  particular  event  will  take  place  at  that  era. 
And  he  lastly  pronounces  a  blessing  upon  him,  who 
should  wait  and  come  to  a  third  number^  or  1335  days ; 
which  is  7>3  days  longer  than  the  first  number^  and  45 
daifs  longer  than  the  second  number. 

With  the  latter  part  of  these  four  prophecies  of  Daniel, 
the  Revelation  of  St.  John  is  immediately  connected,  be- 

*  The  wars  of  the poiver  here  predicted,  which  terminate  in  his  destruction,  Ttzn- 
iel  p\a.ces  a.t  the  time  of  the  enJ ;  consequently  tbe  rise  of  the  foiaer  must  be  expected 
before  the  time  of  ibe  e/tJ,  though  after  the  Reformation.  Compare  Dan.  xi.  35,  3G 
with  Ver.  40. 

f  That  is  to  say  the  ivbole  of  the  ivanders  camprehendcd  •u.-ithin  the  space  of  the  1260 
■^ears.  These  wonders  therefore  do  not  include  the  overthrow  of  the  Roman  beast,  of 
'the  t-wo  little  horns,  ^^A  of  the  ivilful  kii:g,  which  takes  place  after  the  expiration  of 
those  years :  still  less  do  they  include  the  resurrection  of  the  just  and  the  unjust, 
predicted  in  Dan.  xii.  2.  Very  apposite  is  the  remark  of  Bp.  Newton,  that  tie 
beast  is  not  so  much  slain  exactly  at  the  end  of  the  \2m  years,  as  that  the  judgments 
of  God  then  begin  to  go  forth  against  him.  "  The  1260  years  of  the  reign  of  the 
h^jsi,  I  suppose,  end  with  toe  1 260  years  of  the  ivitnesses  prophesying  in  sackcloth  :  and 
now  the  destined  time  is  come  for  the  judgments  of  God  to  overtake  him  :  for,  as 
he  might  exist  before  the  \.260 yean  began,  so  he  may  exist  likewise  after  tlipy  are 
finished,  in  order  to  be  made  an  eminent  example  of  divine  justice."    Dissert,  xxvi. 


47 

ing  in  fact  only  a  more  n^inute  and  comprehensive  pre- 
diction of  the  same  events.  As  Sir  Isaac  Newton  justly 
observes,  it  "  is  written  in  the  same  style  and  language 
with  the  prophecies  of  Daniel,  and  hath  the  same  rela- 
tion to  them  which  they  have  to  one  another,  so  that  all 
of  them  together  make  but  one  complete  prophecy/^* 

The  Apocalypse  contains  a  history  of  the  Christian 
Church  militant  from  the  days  of  St.  John  to  the  very  end 
of  time.  This  history,  or  at  least  that  part  of  it  which 
relates  to  the  period  of  1260  daijs,  is  hieroglyphically  de- 
tailed as  a  iL'ar  bet-^een  the  Lamb  and  the  Dragon^  or 
befii-een  Christ  and  Satan  :  and  upon  examination  it  will 
be  found,  that  there  is  the  most  exact  antithetical  cor- 
respondence between  their  respective  kingdoms  and  fol- 
lowers. The  Lamb  hath  his  throne  \n  the  midst  of  hea-j- 
en  :  the  Dragon  hath  his  seat  upon  the  earth.  Before 
the  throne  of  the  Lamb  there  is  a  sea  of  crystal,  solid, 
durable,  unfluctuating,  transparent :  in  the  dominions  of 
the  Dragon  there  is  also  a  sea  ;  but,  like  the  natural 
ocean,  it  is  for  ever  tuibid  and  restless,  agitated  by  every 
wind,  and  exhibiting  a  surface  perpetually  varying.  Up- 
on the  sea  of  glass ^  those,  that  have  gotten  the  victory 
over  the  Dragon  and  his  agent  the  Beast,  stand  eternally 
secure,  having  the  harps  of  God  in  their  hands,  and  sing- 
ing the  song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb  :  out  of  the  other 
sea  rises  the  Beast  zcith  seven  heads  and  ten  horns,  hav- 
ing a  mouth  that  speaketh  great  things,  and  having  upon 
his  heads  names  of  blasphemy.  The  seat  of  the  Lamb 
is  the  holij  city,  or  the  spiritual  Jerusalem  :  the  strong 
hold  of  the  Dragon  and  the  Beast  is  another  city,  termed 
the  great  citij,  or  the  mifstic  Babylon.  The  Lamb  hath 
i'ji'o  zcitnesses,  his  ministers,  who  prophesy  in  sackcloth 
1260  days  :  the  Dragon  hath  also  his  minister,  the  false 
prophet,  at  whose  instigation  a  new  race  of  gentiles,  com- 
posing the  empire  oi  the  ten-horned  Beast,  tread  the  holy 
city  underfoot  42  months;  which  is  the  same  space  of 
time  as  1260  days^  or,  as  it  is  elsewhere  expressed,  three 
times  and  a  half.  Lastly,  in  the  service  of  the  Lamb, 
and  in  the  midst  of  heaven,  is  a  woman  clothed  with  the 

*  Obserrations  on  the  Apocalypse  Chap.  ii.  p.  254. 


48 

sun,  having  the  moon  under  her  feet,  and  upon  her  head 
a  crov\n  of  twelve  stars  ;  who  is  the  mother  of  a  raan- 
chiid,  destined  to  rule  all  nations  with  a  rod  of  iron  : 
while,  in  the  service  of  the  Dragon^  and  proudly  seated 
upon  tke  heast^  is  another  xL-omun^  arrayed  in  purple  and 
scarlet,  and  decked  with  gold  and  precious  stones,  and 
pearls  ;  who  is  the  mother  of  harlots  and  abominations 
of  the  eartli. 

Surh  are  the  two  kingdoms  of  Chiist  and  Belial^  vi'hich 
are  ever  in  direct  opposition  to  each  other  :  and  the 
Apocalypse,  after  exhibiting  a  prophetic  view  of  their 
long-continued  warfare,  terminates  triumphantly  vvith 
the  total  overthrow  of  the  Dragon  and  his  adherents,  the 
inillennian  reign  of  Christ  upon  earth,  and  the  second 
resurrection. 

The  book  of  the  revelation  is  divided  into ///re^j^ra?^^/ 
successive  periods ;  the  seven  seais^  the  seven  trumpets^ 
and  the  seven  vials.  Of  these  the  seventh  seal  compre- 
hends all  the  seven  trumpets ;  and  the  seventh  trumpet, 
all  the  seven  vials.  This  is  manifest  from  the  following 
consideration.  The  seventh  trumpet  is  styled  the  last  erf 
the  three  great  zaoes,  and  all  the  seven  vials  are  jointly 
styled  the  last  plagues.  There  cannot  however  be  tzco 
last  periods.  Consequently  the  last  zooe  must  necessa- 
rily synchronize  with  the  last  plagues.  But,  if  the  last 
zcoe  synchronize  with  the  last  plagues,  it  must  of  course 
comprehend  them  as  so  mani/  parts  of  one  grand  lohole. 
On  these  grounds  I  cannot  think  with  Mr.  Mede,  that 
the  seven  vials,  or  at  least  six  out  of  the  seven,  belong  to 
the  sixth  trumpet.*  Such  an  arrangement,  by  making 
the  six  first  vials  precede  the  third  ivoc,  certainly  contra- 
dicts the  express  declaration  of  the  prophet,  that  the  vials 
are  tlie  last  plagues  :  for  tliose  six  vials  cannot  be  esteem- 
ed the  last  plagues,  if  they  be  succeeded  by  the  third 
vooe.  It  moreover  breaks  the  regularity  and  concinnity 
of  the  whole  prophecy  :  for,  since  the  Apocalypse  is  di- 
vided into  the  three  periods  of  the  seals,  the  trumpets, 
and  the  vials ;  and  since  all  the  seven  trumpets  are  com- 
prehended under  the  seventh  seal ;  it  seems  much  more 

*  Clav.  Apoc.  Pars  II.  Synchron.  ?,. 


49 

satiiral  to  place  all  the  seven  v'lals^  in  a  similar  manner, 
under  the  seventh  trumpet^  than  to  assign  six  of  them  to 
the  sixth  trumpet^  and  the  seventh  to  the  seventh  trumpet. 
In  short,  Bp.  Newton's  arrangement,  which  I  have  here 
followed,  appears  to  me,  in  every  point  of  view,  far  pref- 
erable to  that  of  Mr.  Mede.* 

Under  the  sixjirst  seals^  and  the  four  first  trumpets 
of  the  seventh  seal^  the  history  of  the  Roman  empire, 
before  and  after  the  days  of  Constantino  to  the  beginning 
of  the  seventh  century^  is  chronologically  and  circum- 
stantially related.  But,  at  the  beginning  of  this  century^ 
a  new  era  commences  :  and  the  prophet  henceforth  de- 
scribes a  series  of  troubles  and  persecutions,  which  the 
true  Church  was  to  undergo  during  the  space  of  1260 
prophetic  days,  or  1260  natural  years.  The  events  of 
that  space  of  time  are  comprehended  under  the  three  last 
trumpets,  which  are  usually  denominated  the  three  zooe^ 
trumpets  :  and  the  third  oi  these  7voe-trumpets  contains, 
as  1  have  just  observed,  within  its  own  particular  period 
the  seven  vials  ;  which  are  declared  to  be  the  seven  last 
plagues,  as  being  a  history  of  the  third  and  last  woe. 
This  period  of  1260  days,  so  frequently  mentioned  botU 
by  Daniel  and  St.  John,  is  equivalent  to  the  triumphant 
duration  oi  the  great  Apostacy  in  its  dominant  state,  or 
the  reign  of  the  tzco  little  horns  in  the  East  and  in  the 
West :  for  the  superstitions  symbohzed  by  these  two 
apostate  horns,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  commenced  their 
tyrannical  career  together  in  the  very  same  year ;  and 
will  continue  jointly  to  depress  the  Gospel  of  Christ, 
till  (what  Daniel  styles)  the  time  of  the  end.  Towards 
the  close  of  the  1260  dai/s,  and  after  the  era  of  the  Refor-' 
mation,  it  is  predicted,  that  the  king  who  magnified  him- 
self above  every  god,  or  the  long  expected  Antichrisfy 
will  be  revealed  in  all  his  horrors  :  that  great  Antichrist, 
whose  special  badge,  as  we  are  informed  by  St.  John, 
should  be  aii  open  denial  both  of  the  Father  and  of  the 
Son,  an  unreserved  profession  of  Atheism  and  Infidelity. 

Of  the  three  ivoe-trumpets  then  which  synchronize 
with  the  1260  days  (the  third  however  extending  beyond 

*  See  Bp.  Nev.'ton'6  very  lucid  statement  of  this  matter  in  bis  Dissert,  on  Rev.  xr. 
VOL.  I.  7 


50 

the  termination  of  those  days,*)  the  first  comprehends 
the  space  from  the  commencement  of  the  dominance  of 
the  Apostacij  to  its  attaining  the  zenith  of  its  power ;  the 
second  extends  from  the  era,  when  it  attained  the  zenith 
of  its  poioer,  to  the  complete  developement  of  Antichrist 
or  the  Infidel  king  :  and  the  third  predicts  the  outrageous 
and  bloody  domination  of  tJiat  impious  monster ,  his  subse- 
quent union  zvith  the  false  prophet  or  the  western  apostate 
little  horn,  his  complete  destruction  at  the  time  of  the  end j 
and  the  final  subversion  of  the  whole  Apostacij  in  both  its 
branches.^  After  all  these  matters  are  accomplished, 
then  Commences  the  joyful  part  of  the  third  woe-trum- 
pet, when  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  become  the  king- 
doms of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ. 

The  Apostacy  of  the  two  little  horns  being  of  a  two-fold 
nature,  it  was  necessary  that  the  prophet  should  give  a 
double  though  sipichronical  account  of  it  :  hence,  at  the 
commencement  of  Xhe first  woe-trumpet,  the  Apocalypse 

*  The  last  of  the  seven  -vials  -will  apparently  begin  to  be  poured  out  so  soon  as  the 
1260  years  %\\?i\^h3.ve  expired.  It  seems  to  occupy  the  period,  or  perhaps  the  first 
division  of  the  period,  which  intervenes  between  the  end  of  the  1260  years  and  the 
commencement  of  the  Millennium.  This  whole  period  is  75  years  ;  which  Daniel 
divides  into  30  years  and  45  ^ears.  When  the  seventh  -vial  is  completely  exhausted,  tlie 
joyl'ul  part  of  the  seventh  trumpet  commences.  See  Rev.  xi.  1 5  —  1 9  ;  where,  for  the  con- 
solation of  the  Church,  the  order  of  events  is  inverted,  and  the  joyful  fart  of  the  sev- 
etith  trumpet  spoken  of  before  its  luoeful part.     See  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  in  loc. 

f  Dr.  Hammond  and  Mr.  Burton  strangely  apply  the  three  tvoes  to  the  death  of  our 
Lord,  the  saijirng  of  "Jerusalem  by  Titus,  and  its  final  destruction  by  Adrian.  This  notion 
is  so  utterly  irreconcileable  with  the  whole  chronology  of  the  Apocalypse,  partic- 
ularly that  part  of  it  which  relates  to  tha  1 260  days  -,  and  it  is  moreover  so  perfectly 
incongruous  with  the  prophetic  description  of  the  three  luoes,  that  I  cannot  refrain 
from  expressing  my  wonder  that  it  should  ever  have  been  seriously  adopted.  What 
resemblance  can  be  discovered  between  the  prophecy  contained  in  Rev.  ix.  1  —  12, 
which  treats  of  the  first  luoe,  and  the  death  of  Christ  with  its  immediate  consequences, 
I  cannot  imagine  :  and  I  am  as  little  able  to  discover  any  similarity  between  the 
WfO/W  •a,-o<',  described  in  Rev.  ix.  13 — 21,  and  the  sacking  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus.  As 
for  the  third  ivoe,  which  brings  us  through  its  seven  vials  to  the  end  of  the  present 
order  of  things,  how  can  it  have  any  connection  with  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by 
Adrian  which  happened  many  centuries  ago  .'  When  Mr.  Burton  asserted,  that /trp 
of  the  iL-?es  were  past  in  St.  John's  time  because  we  read  "  The  second  woe  is  past, 
behold  the  third  cometh  quickly  ;"  (Rev.  xi.  14.)  he  surely  must  have  overlooked 
the  denunciaton  of  the  angel,  Woe,  woe,  woe,  to  the  inhabiters  of  the  earth  by  rea- 
son of  the  other  voices  of  the  trumpets  of  the  three  angels,  ivhich  arc  yet  to  sound" 
(Rev.  viii.  13.)  In  fact  Mr.  Burton  ought  to  have  known,  that  St.  John  describes 
an  event  as  past,  when  he  has  advanced  beyond  it  in  the  chronological  order  of  his 
prophecy.  He  cioes  not  mean  to  intimate  by  the  expression,  that  the  event  had  lite- 
rally taken  place  in  his  own  days,  but  that  he  was  about  to  announce  another  event 
which  should  succeed  in  point  of  time  the  event  last  predicted.  Hammond's  Para- 
phrase on  the  New  Test,  Fol.  906 Burton's  Essay  on  the  numbers  of  Daniel  and 

:^l.  John,  o.  104 — 107. 


61 

branches  out  into  two  distinct  concurrent  lines  of  proph-? 
ecy.  In  the  ninth  chapter  oi  the  Revelation,  the  history 
of  the  two  first  periods  of  the  eastern  branch  of  the  Apos- 
tacif  is  detailed,  under  the  twofirst  of  the  three  i<2oe-trum- 
pets^  separately  from  the  corresponding  periods  of  the 
icestern  brunch  :  and  afterwards  the  whole  contemporane- 
ous historij  of  the  icestern  branchy  under  all  the  three 
woe-trumpets,  is  likewise  separately  detailed,  in  order  to 
prevent  confusion,  in  what  St.  John  terms  a  little  book 
or  codicil  to  the  larger  general  book  of  the  wliole  Apoca- 
lypse. This  little  book  contains  the  eleventh,  twelfth, 
thirteenth,  and  fourteenth  chapters  of  the  Revelation  : 
and,  in  point  of  chronology,  all  these  chapters  run  po^'«/- 
lel  to  each  other,  relating  severally,  though  with  some 
variety  of  circumstances,  to  the  same  period  and  the  same 
events ;  so  as  to  form  jointly  a  complete  history  of  the 
zvestern  Apostacy,  and  of  all  the  principal  actors  in  it. 
That  the  chapters  o^  the  little  book  run  parallel,  and  not 
successive,  to  each  other,  is  manifest  from  the  express 
declaration  of  the  three  first  of  them.  All  these  repre- 
sent themselves  as  describing  one  and  the  same  period, 
namely  that  of  the  1260  years  :  consequently,  if  they 
describe  the  same  period,  they  must  necessarily  run  pa- 
rellel  to  each  other.*  The  last  chapter  of  the  little  book 
does  not  indeed  specifically  make  any  such  declaration 
respecting  itself;  but  its  contents,  as  we  shall  hereafter 
see,  afford  a  sufficient  degree  of  internal  evidence  to 
prove  that  it  likewise  relates  to  the  period  of  1260  years, 
and  therefore  that  it  runs  parallel  to  its  three  predeces- 
sors. 

1.  Thej^r^^  of  the  four  chapters  describes  the  desolate 
prophesying  oi  the  witnesses,  and  the  treading  underfoot 
oi  the  holy  city  by  a  new  race  of  gentiles,  differing  from 
their  heathen  predecessors  only  in  name,  during  the  space 
of  1260  days  :  predicting,  in  its  13th  verse,  the  primary 

*  It  may  not  be  improper  to  observe,  that  the  third  chapter  of  the  little  boot,  which 
answers  to  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  the  Revelation,  ought  to  have  been  divided  into 
tzvo  chapters,  the  division  taking  place  at  the  eleventh  -verse.  The  second  apocalyptie 
least  is  contemporary,  during  the  whole  period  of  his  existence,  with  thejirst :  con- 
sequently the  latter  part  of  the  thirteenth  chapter,  commencing  with  the  eleventh  -verse, 
runs  parallel  with  the  former  part  of  the  same  chapter.  Such  being  the  case,  the 
contents  of  the  little  book  wovild  bQ  piore  clearly  arranged,  if  this  chapter  Yyere  brokee 
into  two. 


52 

and  only  partial  manifestation  of  Antichrist,  when  it  is 
declared  that  the  second  woe  is  past  ;  and  announcing, 
in  its  \5th  verse,  the  sounding  oi  the  se-cenih  trumpet  or 
the  third  woe,  at  the  first  blast  of  which  he  is  fully  re- 
vealed. 

2.  The  second  shews  us,  who  was  the  prime  mover  of 
the  persecution  carried  on  against  the  symbolical  lojomun, 
or  the  true  Church,  during  the  appointed  period  oi  the 
1260  daiis. 

3.  The  third  reveals  to  us  the  political  character  and 
history  of  the  seven- headed und  ten-horned  beast,  who  was 
to  wage  war  with  the  saints  iox  the  space  of  42  months  or 
1260  daifs  ;  and  describes  likewise  the  form  and  actions 
of  his  instigator  and  associate  the  two-horned  beast,  who 
is  elsewhere  styled  the  false  prophet.^  These  two  beasts 
acting  in  concert  together,  tread  the  holy  city  under  foot 
42  months ;  and  persecute  the  mijstic  woman  and  her  off- 
spring;, or  the  two  zmtnesses  of  Christ  who  are  his  true 
prophets,  during  the  same  period  of  I'iGO  days. 

4.  The  fourth  describes  the  internal  state  of  the  true 
Church  throughout  the  prevalence  of  the  i!Destern  Apos- 
iacif  ;  predicts  the  Reformation ;  and  divides  some  of  the 
most  prominent  events  oi  t1i£  seventh  trumpet,  which  are 
detailed  hereafter  in  the  larger  book  under  the  seven  vials, 
into  two  grand  classes,  the  harvest  and  the  vintage  of 
God's  wrath,  separated  from  each  other  by  an  indefinite 
period  of  time,  teaching  moreover  that  the  imne-press 
shall  be  trodden  in  a  certain  country,  the  space  of  which 
extends  1 600  furlongs. 

It  seems,  as  if  St.  John,  when  he  received  the  little 
book  from  the  hand  of  the  angel,  imagined  that  it  would 
contain  the  full  and  exclusive  history  of  the  third  and 
last  woe-trumpet  :  and  such  a  supposition  was  not 
unnatural,  for  he  had  already  heard  the  two  first  woe- 
trumpets  sound,  before  the  angel  gave  him  the  book. 
We  must  observe  however,  that,  although  the  second 
zooe-trumpet  had  begun  to  sound,  the  prophet  had  not  as 
yet  received  any  intimation  that  the  second  zvoe  was  past. 
The  angel  therefore,  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  any 
such  mistake,  solemnly  swears  by  the  Almighty,  that 

*  Rev.  xlx.  QO, 


53 

'*the  time  (of  the  last  zooe)  shall  not  be  yet,  but  in  the 
davs  of  the  voice  of  the  seventh  angel/'  or  the  last  of 
the  three  angels  who  bore  the  three  xooe-trumpets^  "  when 
he  shall  begin  to  sound,  and  when  the  mystery  of  God 
shall  be  about  finishing/'*  Hence,  when  St.  John  was 
eagerly  proceeding  to  write  the  history  o{  the  se-cen  thun- 
ders^ which  are  apparently  the  same  as  the  seven  vials 
comprehended  under  the  last  ii:oe-trumpet^'\  he  heard  a 
voice  from  heaven  arresting  his  progress  and  command- 
ing him  to  "seal  up  those  things  which  the  seven  thun- 
ders uttered,  and  to  write  them  not.":J:  The  reason  of 
this  is  evident  :  they  were  not  yet  to  come  to  pass,  for 
the  prophet  had  still  to  detail  the  events  contained  un- 
der the  tzco  first  zcoe-triimpets^  so  far  as  they  respected 
the  "^'estern  branch  of  the  Apostacy^  the  peculiar  history 
of  which  the  angel  was  now  presenting  him  with  in  the 
little  book.  He  had  still  to  "  prophesy  again  before 
many  peoples,  and  nations,  and  tongues,  and  kings  ;"^ 
the  beast,  when  he  commenced  his  new  term  of  existence 
during  the  42  months^  being  no  longer  as  throughout  his 

*  Rev.  X.  6,  7.  Such  I  conceive  to  be  the  proper  translation  of  the  passage.  The 
angel  does  not  swear,  that  time  shall  he  no  longer,  but  that  the  time,  namely  of  the  third 
ivoe,  shall  not  be  yet.  (See  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  this  chapter.)  So  again  the  ao- 
rist  r;XE(r6>!  ought  not  here  to  be  translated  should  be  Jlnisbed,  but  should  be  about  fn- 
iihing  or  should  draiu  near  to  its  completion.  It  is  a  mode  of  expression  exactly  analo- 
gous to  that  used  by  the  prophet  in  Rev.  xi.  7  ;  where  the  active  subjunctive  aorist 
TiKic'jci  ought,  in  a  similar  manner,  to  be  translated,  as  Mr.  Mede  justly  observes, 
they  shall  be  about  jinishing,  not  they  shall  have  jinished. 

f  Mr.  Whitaker  thinks,  that  the  seven  thunders  are  the  seven  crusades  undertaken  for 
the  purpose  of  delivering  Palestine  from  the  hands  of  the  Infidels  ;  and  that  St. 
John  was  forbidden  to  write  them,  because  the  restoraticn  of  the  Jeivs  was  not  to  take 
place  till  the  seventh  angel  had  sounded.  (Comment  on  Rev.  p.  1 76  et  infra.)  Vit- 
ringa  is  of  the  same  opinion.  But,  since  it  is  expressly  declared,  that  the  time  of 
the  seven  thunders  should  not  be  yet,  but  in  the  days  of  the  voice  of  the  seventh  angel  ; 
and  since  the  blast  of  the  seventh  trumpet  produces  the  effusion  of  the  seven  vials  :  it 
appears  to  me  much  more  probable,  that  the  seven  thunders  are  in  effect  the  same  as 
the  seven  vialt.  Both  Mr.  Mede  and  Bp.  Newton  censure  those,  who  attempt  to  ex- 
plain the  seven  thunders,  on  the  ground  that  the  angel  charged  St.  John  to  seal  them 
up  and  to  write  them  not.  This  censure  I  cannot  but  think  a  little  unreasonable  : 
for  the  sealing  up  of  the  thunders,  and  the  ivriting  them  not,  does  not  mean,  that  they 
were  never  to  be  understood ;  but  simplv,  that  the  events,  predicted  under  them, 
were  not  then  to  be  written,  but  were  to  be  reserved  for  a  future  part  of  the  Apo- 
■calypse,  namely  that  which  treats  of  the  seventh  trumpet.  Hence  the  angel  asserts, 
that  their  time  shall  not  be  yet,  but  in  the  davs  of  the  voice  of  the  seventh  angel. 
When  he  began  to  sound,  then  they  should  begin  to  be  understood  ;  till  then  they 
should  be  sealed  up.     See  Dan.  xii.  9. 

\  Rev.  X.  4. 

§  — "  the  beast,  that  was,  and  is  not,  and  yet  is."  (Rev.  xvii.  8.)  More  will  be 
said  upon  this  revival  of  the  beust  hereafter. 


54. 

ancient  terna  of  existence*  07ie  great  undivided  power ^ 
but  having  now,  under  the  prophecy  of  the  little  book,, 
put  forth  ten  different  horns^  each  bearing  a  separate  and 
independent  crown. f  He  had  still  therefore  to  prophesy 
again  ;  or  a  second  time  to  go  over  the  same  period  in 
the  West,  that  he  had  already  gone  over  in  the  East. 
Hence,  althougii  the  contents  of //ze  little  book  extend 
to  the  very  termination  of  the  1260  da//s,  as  St.  John  re- 
peatedly declares,  yet  they  peculiarlij  detail  the  effects 
of  the  two  first  woe-trumpets.  The  sounding  of  the  third 
%<Doe-trumpet  accordingly,  which  brings  us  down  to  the 
very  end  of  those  days,  is  simply  mentioned  in  the  little 
book  ;  and  an  intimation  is  briefly  given,  that  toward  the 
close  of  t/ie  1260  dai/s  the  harvest  and  the  vintage  of 
God's  wrath  should  be  gathered  in  :  for  the  particular 
account  of  the  calamities,  which  the  concluding  trumpet 
■was  about  to  produce,  is  reserved  for  the  pouring  out  of 
the  seven  vials,  and  for  the  subsequent  chapters  more 
largely  explanatory  of  the  effects  of  the  last  vial. 

Having  finished  the  contents  of  the  little  book,  which 
relates  the  history  of  the  western  branch  of  the  Apostacij 
chiefly  under  the  two  first  xcoe-trumpets,  though  without 
excluding  the  third  woe-trumpet,  the  prophet  returns  to 
the  larger  book  which  contains  the  general  history  of 
the  Church,  in  order  that  he  may  fully  detail  the  con- 
sequences of  the  sounding  of  the  last  ivoe-trumpet . 
This  concluding  trumpet  atfects  both  the  East  and  the 
West :  and  it  conducts  us,  through  the  two  grand  epochs 
of  the  harvest  and  the  vintage,  and  through  the  different 
stages  of  its  seven  Vials,  to  the  very  time  of  the  end,  to 
the  destruction  of  the  two-fold  Apostacij,  to  the  com- 
plete overthrow  of  Antichrist,  and  to  the  commencement 
of  that  happy  period,  when  all  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world  shall  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his 
Christ.  Hence  we  find,  that,  from  the  great  variety  of 
important  matter  which  it  contains,  a  very  considerable 
portion  of  the  Apocalypse  is  exclusively  devoted  to  it. 
This  portion  includes  the  fifteenth,  the  sixteenth,  the 
seventeenth,  the  eighteenth,  and  the  nineteenth y  chapters  ; 

*  Rev.  X.  11.  ■)•  Rev.  xiii.  I. 


39 

all  of  which  constitute  jointly  one  continued  prophecy 
of  the  events  comprehended  under  t/ie  third  woe-trum- 
pet— Thejiffeentk  chapter  is  a  kind  oi  introdiictori/  pre' 
face  to  the  pouring  out  of  the  Vials^  in  order  that  this 
final  display  of  God^s  wrath  against  his  impenitent  and 
irreclaimable  enemies  may  be  described  with  the  greater 
majesty — The  sixteenth  chapter  contains  a  summary  and 
distinct  account  of  the  miseries,  brought  upon  mankind 
by  the  atheistical  principles  o^  Antichrist,  during  the  pe- 
riod of  the  Jigurative  harvest  ;  of  the  events  which  will 
intervene  between  the  harvest  and  the  vintage ;  and  of 
the  earthquake,  during  the  period  of  the  vintage,  by 
which  the  great  citij  will  be  divided  into  three  parts, 
when  "  Babylon  will  come  in  remembrance  before  God  to 
give  unto  her  the  cup  of  the  wine  of  the  fierceness  of  his 
wrath."  These  various  events  are  represented  as  taking 
place  in  consequence  of  the  successive  pouring  out  of 
seven  Vials  :  the  three  former  of  which  synchronize,  I 
apprehend,  with  the  harvest  of  God's  wrath  ;  and  the 
iasty  with  the  vintage ;  while  the  remaitiing  three  are 
poured  out  between  the  two  grand  periods  of  the  harvest 
and  the  vintage,  and  relate  to  certain  intermediate  events 
— The  three  folloimng  chapters,  namely  the  seventeenth^ 
the  eighteenth,  and  the  nineteenth,  give  a  full  and  explicit 
account  of  the  vintage,  which  synchronizes,  as  I  have  just 
observed,  with  the  last  Vial.  The  events  of  the  vintage 
are  the  division  of  the  great  citij  into  three  parts,  men- 
tioned in  the  sixteenth  chapter  immediately  upon  the 
pouring  out  o^  the  last  Vial ;  the  subversion  of  the  mijs^ 
tic  bub ij Ion;  and  the  total  overthrow  of  the  confederacy 
ff  the  beast,  the  false  prophet,  and  the  kings  of  the  Ro- 
7nan  or  Papal  earth,  in  the  battle  of  Armageddon.  The 
confederacy  itself  will  unconsciously  be  gathered  to  the 
place  of  its  destruction  by  the  secret  diabolical  influence 
of  three  unclean  spirits  ;  but  this  will  phifsicallij  be 
brought  about  by  the  military  despotism  exercised  un- 
der the  fourth  Vial,  by  the  subversion  of  the  Ottoman 
empire  under  the  sixth  Vial,  and  by  the  political  earth- 
quake at  the  beginning  of  the  effusion  of  the  seventh 
Vial,  which  divides  the  great  citij,  or  the  Latin  empire, 
into  three  parts. 


All  the  events  o^  the  vintage  or  the  last  F/«/vvill  hap- 
pen at  t/ie  time  of  the  encl^  or  at  the  term'iaution  of  the 
\'i()0  ijears*  ^jz//c/^W*/ himself  will  then  perish,  united 
as  at  present,  contrary  to  every  expectation  at  his  orig- 
inal developement,  with  the  false  Romish  prophet  :  for, 
according  to  the  sure  word  of  Scripture,  one  fate  awaits 
them  both  in  the  region  betzceen  tivo  seas  near  the  glo- 
rious holy  mountain,  in  the  country  'which  extends  1600 
furlongs,  in  the  valleij  of  Meg  id  do. -^  Then  will  the  ful- 
ness of  the  Gentiles  be  come  in  :  then  will  the  'divine-press 
of  God^s  zcrath  begin  to  be  trodden  in  the  valley  of 
concision ::|:  then  will  the  great  controversy  of  Jehovah 
loith  the  nations  commence. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  time  of  unexampled  trouble, 
that  is  to  say,  at  the  expiration  of  the  I960  years,  the 
Almighty  will  put  forth  his  hand  to  bring  back  his  ancient 
people  the  Jeics  to  the  country  of  their  fathers  :  and, 
when  that  is  accomplished,  and  when  Antichrist  is  over- 

*  Mr.  Mede  believes,  like  myself,  that  the  seventh  -vial  will  begin  to  be  poured  out 
exactly  at  the  termination  of  the  1260  years  :  for  he  supposes,  that  the  Jlrst  blast  of  the 
seventh  trumpet  and  the  first  effusion  of  the  seventh  -vial,  which  he  justly  calls  tie  'vial  of 
consummation,  exactly  synchronize  ;  and  he  maintains,  that  at  this  era  the  three  times 
and  a  half  term\-a^X.e.  (Compare  Clav.  Apoc.  Pars  Alt.  Synchron.  iii.  v — Comment. 
Apoc.  in  Tub.  vii.  et  in  Phial,  vii — and  the  plate  at  the  end  of  the  Clavis.)  Though, 
as  I  have  already  observed,  I  prefer  Bp.  Newton's  arrangement  oi  the  seventh  trumpet, 
I  think  Mr.  Mede's  opinion  nearly  indisputable,  that  the  1 260  years  expire  when  the 
•vial  of  consummation  beginsto  be  poured  out,  because  the  contents  of  that  -vial  plainly 
shew  that  it  relates  to  the  time  of  Goifs  great  contro'vcrsy  iviib  the  nations.  But  this  great 
contro-uersy,  this  period  of  unexampled  trouble,  synchronizes,  according  to  the  unanimous 
testimony  of  all  the  prophets  who  treat  of  the  subject,  with  the  restoration  of  the  Jezvs  ; 
which  restoration  commences,  according  to  Daniel,  at  the  close  of  the  three  times  and  a  half: 
therefore  the  contemporary  period  of  unexampled  trouble  must  commence  at  the  close  of  the 
three  times  and  a  half;  and  consequently  the  effusion  of  the  seventh  "jial,  which  relates  to 
that  period,  must  likewise  commence  at  the  close  of  the  three  times  and  a  half :  in  other 
words,  the  seventh  vial  must  begin  to  be  poured  out,  so  soon  as  the  three  times  and  a 
half  or  the  1260  years  expire  ;  which  was  the  point  asserted. 

f  That  is  to  say,  between  the  Mediterranean  sea  and  the  Dead  sea,  in  the  land  of  Pa- 
lestine, the  length  of  which  country  extends  1600  Jewish  Risin  or  stadia.  The  sub- 
ject will  be  discussed  at  large  hereafter.  Mr.  Mede  very  justly  remarks,  that  the 
treading  of  the  ivine  press  at  the  period  of  the  symbolical  vintage  is  the  same  as  the  great 
battle  of  Armageddon  under  the  last  vial  ;  and  for  tllis  plain  reason  :  the  beast,  the  false 
prophet,  and  their  confederates,  cannot  experience  tzuo  final  overthrows.  The  vintage 
however,  predicted  in  the  little  book,  is  represented  as  being  the  last  event  that  takes 
place  in  that  book  :  but  the  little  booh  reaches  to  the  end  of  the  1 260  years,  and  indeed 
in  its  first  and  last  chapters  extends  beyond  the  end  of  those  years  :  therefore  the  vin- 
tage must  take  place  after  the  end  of  //'-•  1 260  years.  Hence  it  must  necessarily  be 
the  same  as  the  baule  of  Armageddon  ;  which  is  the  last  event  of  toe  last  vial,  and  con- 
sequently takes  place  after  the  end  oi  the  lilGO  years  hkewise.  Sec  Mede's  Comment, 
Apoc.  in  Vindemiam. 

I  Joel  iii.  14. 


S7 

thrown,  f/w  lost  ten  tribes  of  Israel  w\\\  likewise  be  re- 
stored, and  will  henceforth  form  only  one   people  with 
Judah,     Then  will  the  first  resurrection  take  place,  and 
the  Millemimm  will  commence.     That  there  will  be  a 
preternatural  manifestation  of  the  Messiah  at  this  event- 
ful period,   we  have,  1  think  with  Mr.  Mede,   reason  to 
expect.*     But,  whether  the  first  resurrection  mentioned 
by  St.   John  as  taking   place  before  the  Millennium^  and 
the  continued  reign  of  Christ  zmth  his  saints  upon  earth 
during  the  Millennium^  are  to  be  understood  in  a  literal 
or  in   a   figurative    sense,    time  alone   can   determine. •]* 
Such  "  secret  things,"   as   unaccomplished   prophecies, 
*'  belong  unto  the  Lord  our  God  ;"  and  it  is  a  vain  waste 
of  time  to  weary   ourselves  with  conjectures   respecting 
the  precise  mode  of  their  accomplishment.     Upon  these 
points  when  we  go  beyond  what  is  written,   we  exceed 
our  commission  :  and  it  has  almost  invariably  been  found, 
that  the  commentator,   who  attempted  to  shew  hoiv  a 
prophecy  was  about  to  be   fulfilled,  was  by  the  event 
convicted  of  error.     We  may  safely  and  positively  de- 
clare what  will  come  to  pass,  and  we  may  even  say  hoio 
it  will  come  to  pass,  so  long  as  we  resolutely  confine  our- 
selves to  the  explicit  declarations  of  Scripture  :  but  to 
point  out  the  manner  in  which  an  event  will  be  accom- 
plished, any  further  than  the  word  of  God  hath  revealed 

*  This  point  is  discussed  at  large  in  a  Work  which  I  am  now  preparing  for  the 

press  on  tie  restoration  of  Isreal  and  the  ovcrthroxv  of  the  Antichristian  confederacy. 

\  Mr.  Mede  strongly  maintains,  that  the  first  resurrection  will  be  a  literal  resurrec- 
tion of  the  martyrs.  I  confess  that  his  arguments  rather  silence  me,  than  convince  me. 
The  resurrection  is  not  unfrequently  used  in  Scripture  to  typify  the  political  resurrection 
if  a  nation  or  community.  Should  such  be  the  meaning  of  the  apocalyptic  first  resurrec- 
tion^ it  will  simply  denote  that  the  saints  of  God,  long  oppressed  by  the  Papacy,  shall 
ultimately  be  raised  up  to  political  power  and  influence,  agreeably  to  the  literal  pre- 
dictions both  of  Daniel  and  St.  John.  (Dan.  vii.  27.  Rev.  xx.  4,  6.)  To  this  interpre- 
tation however,  which  I  could  -wish  to  adopt,  Mr.  Mede  urges  objections  not  very 
easy  to  be  answered.  (See  a  curious  discussion  of  this  point  In  his  Works  Book  iv. 
Epist.  20.)  Abp.  Tiilotson  is  inclined  to  understand  the  reign  of  Christ  in  a  spiritual 
sense.  "  Though  I  see  no  sufficient  grounds  from  Scripture  to  believe  the  personal 
reign  of  Christ  upon  earth  for  a  thousand  years  :  yet  it  seems  to  be  not  improbable, 
that  some  time  before  the  end  of  the  world,  the  glorious  kingdom  of  Christ,  I  meaa 
the  prevalency  of  the  pure  Christian  reHgion,  should  be  of  as  long  a  continuance,  as 
the  reign  of  Mohammed  and  Antichrist  have  been,  both  of  which  have  now  lasted 
about  a  thousand  years."  (Serm.  Vol.  x.  p.  177.)  The  reader  will  find  the  question. 
Whether  the  first  apocalyptic  resurrection  ought  to  be  understood  figuratively  or  literally.  Very 

well  discussed  in  Lowraan's  Paraphrase  on  Rev.  xx.    I  dare  not  give  an  opinion  on 

the  subject. 

VOL.  I.  S 


58" 

the  manner  of  it,  is  to  pry  too  curiously  into  what  he 
h.ith  purposely  concealed,  and  to  aim  at  becoming  proph- 
ets instead  of  contentins:  ourselves  with    bein^i'  humble 
and   fallible   expositors  of  prophecy.     What  the   Bible 
hath  declared,  that  xce  may   without  hesitation  declare  : 
beyond  tjjis,  all  is  mere  vague  conjecture.     It  was  very 
wisely  remarked  by  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  that  "  the  folly  of 
interpreters  has  been  to  foretell  times  and  things  by  the 
Apocalypse,  as  if  God  designed  to  make  them  prophets. 
By  this  rashness  they  have  not  only  exposed  themselves, 
but  brought  the  prophecy  also  into  contempt.     The  de- 
sign of  God  was  much  otherwise.      He  gave  this  and  the 
prophecies  of  the   Old  Testament,   nut  to   gratify  men's 
curiosities  by  enabling   them   to  foreknow   things,   but 
that   after  they  were   fulfilled  they  might  be  interpreted 
by  the  event,  and  his  own  Providence,  not  the  interpre- 
ter's, be  then  manifested  thereby  to  the  world.     For  the 
event  of  things,  predicted  many  ages  before,  will  then  be 
a  convincing  argument,  that  the   world  is  governed  by 
Providence."     JSIay   1  add,   without   the  imputation  of 
vanity,  in  the  words  of  the  same  great  and  good  man  ? 
*'  Amongst  the  interpreters  of  the  last  age  there  is  scarce 
one  of  note  who  hath   not  made   some  discovery  worth 
knowing :  and  thence  I  seem  to  gather,  that  God  is  about 
opening  these  mysteries.     The  success  of  others  put  me 
upon  considering  it ;  and,  if  1  have  done  any  thing  which 
may  be  useful  to  following  writers,  I  have  my  design."* 
At  the  close  of  the  Millennium,  Satan  will  again  be  let 
loose  to  deceive  the  nations  ;  when  the  last  confederacij 
against  the  Church,   which  this  world  shall  ever  behold, 
will  be  formed  by  certain  enemies  of  the  Messiah  whom 
both  St.  John  and  Ezekiel   concur  in  denominating  Gog 
and   Magog.-\     Upon  this  occasion,  God   will  specially 
interfere  in  behalf  of  his  people.     While  the  enemies  of 
the  saints  are   encompassing   the  camp   and  the  beloved 
city,  fire  will  come  down  from  heaven  and  devour  them. 
Their  great   instigator  the  devil  will  then  be  finally  cast 
into  the  lake  of  fire   and  brimstone,   to  which  the  beast 
and  the  false  prophet  had  already  been  consigned  at  the 

*  Observ.  on  the  Apocalypse,  p.  251,  252,  253. 
.f  Rtv,  x£,  8.     Ezek.  xxitvliL  xxxix. 


69 

commencement  of  the  thousand  years  :  and  the  second, 
or  general  resurrection  will  take  place.  The  Apocalypse 
triumphantly  concludes  with  a  figurative  description  of 
the  happiness  of  the  pious. 

The  following:  scheme  will  shew;,^  at  one  point  of  view, 
the  manner  in  which  I  arrange  that  part  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse, which  treats  of  the  1260  daijs,  under  the  three 
successive  periods- of  if /ze  ivoe-trumpets. 


The  two  first 
Woe-trumpets. 


The  third 
Woe-trumpet. 


Rev, 

j^  C  History  of  the  Eastern    Apostacy  un- 

'  \  der  the  tzvojirst  ivoe-trumpets. 
X.  j  Introduction  to  the  little  book. 

Contemporary  history  of  the  Western  . 
XL  y  Apostacy  under  the  tivo  first   ivoe-trum- 
XII.  ?/>f/j,  and    to    the    end  of    the  third: 

XIII.  \  the    particular    events    of    the    third  ^ 

XIV.  /  however  are  reserved  for  the  subject 

of  the  following  prophecy. 

Y-y  C  Introduction   to  the  pouring  out   of 
ithe  V.als. 


The  little 
book. 


XVI. 


rviai  I. 

Vial  2." 
Vial  3. 
Vial  4. 
Vial  5. 
Vial  6. 
tVial  7. . 
r  A  detailed  account  of  the  events  a- 


CThe    pouring  out    of     the 
I  Vials. 


XVII. \  bout  to  take  place  under  the  seventh^        ^^    ,. 
XVIII.      Vial  ;    such    as    the    destruction    of  the  1  ^i 

XIX.  y  scarlet  ivhore,    the  o'uertbroiv  of  Baby-  \ 
{^lon,  and  the  hattle  of  Armageddon. 


If  we  compare  the  four  preceding  prophecies  of  X^^xi- 
ieXvf'iih  the  Revelation  oi^t.  John,  the  point  of  their 
chronological  coincidence  will  of  course  be  that  age  of 
the  Roman  Empire  in  which  St.  John  flourished  ;  or  the 
period,  as  the  Apostle  himself  tells  us,  when  the  fourth 
great  beast  was  existing  under  his  sixth  head*  Hence 
thefoet  of  the  image  branching  out  iiito  ten  toes,  the 
fourth  beast  ivith  ten  horns,  and  tJie  apoclijptic  beast 
with  seven  heads  and  ten  horns,  must  all  be  designed  to 
symbolize  the  same  power.  It  is  equally  evident,  that 
the  three  years  and  a  halfoi  Daniel  are  the  three  years 
and  a  halfo  the  42  months,  or  the  1260  days  of  St.  John, 

'  Rev.  xvU,  ift 


60 

Since  then  the  feet  of  the  image,  the  ten-horned  least, 
and  the  seven-headed  and  ten-horned  beast,  are  one  and 
the  same  power  :  the  victor  if  achieved  hij  the  stone  over  the 
feet  of  the  image  must  be  equivalent  to  the  victory  of 
the  Lamb  over  the  beast,  the  false  prophet,  and  the  con' 
federated  kings  ;*  and  the  triumphant  reign  of  the  momi' 
iain,  to  the  duration  of  the  Millennium.^  In  a  similar 
manner  the  judgment  of  Daniers  fourth  beast  by  the 
Ancient  of  days  must  be  the  same  as  the  victories  of  the 
stone  and  the  Lamb  :%  while  the  beasts,  whose  dominion 
was  taken  awatj,  and 'whose  lives  were  prolonged  during 
the  reign  of  the  mountain,  (for  there  was  no  other  reign 
during  which  they  could  be  prolonged, §  inasmuch  as 
the  first  judgment  was  already  past,)  must  be  identified 
with  the  Gog  and  Magog  mentioned  by  St.  John,  as 
existing  during  the  period  of  the  Millennium,  and  as 
making  a  final  effort  against  the  Church  towards  the  close 
of  it.*  Lastly,  the  second  judgment,  predicted  by  Daniel 
as  taking  place  after  the  season  to  which  the  lives  oi  the 
three  first  beasts  had  been  prolonged,  must  be  the  second 
judgment,  foretold  by  St.  John  as  about  to  commence  at 
the  expiration  of  the  Millennium.'^ 

These  coincidences  are  sufficiently  obvious,  but  to  as- 
certain the  others  is  attended  with  a  greater  degree  of 
difficulty;  more  especially  since  such  a  variety  of  opin- 
ions has  been  entertained  by  those,  who  have  written 
upon  the  subject.  As  far  as  I  am  able  to  judge,  and  I 
shall  attempt  to  prove  in  the  sequel  what  I  am  now  about 
to  advance,  the  two  little  horns  and  the  atheistical  king^ 
mentioned  by  Daniel,  are  three  distinct  powers.  The  first 
of  the  little  honis,  into  whose  hand  the  saints  were  to  be 

*  Dan.  ii.  34.— Rev.  xix.  17—21.  f  Dan.  ii.  35.— Rev.  xx.  6. 

^  Dau.  vii.  9,  10,  11. — Dan.  ii.  34. — Rev.  xix.  17—21. 

§  This  prolongation  "  the  Rabbins  take  for  some  season  and  time  after  the  fourth 
least  was  destroyed  ;  and  R.  Solomon,  at  the  time  of  the  war  of  Gog  and  Magog., 
■which  they  look  for  soon  after  their  restitution,  upon  the  destruction  of  the  fourth 
least."  (Mede's  Works  Book  iv.  Epist.  24.)  They  appear  to  me  to  be  perfectly 
right  in  their  general  idea  respecting  this  passage  :  but  the  war  of  Gog  and  Magog, 
the  precise  epoch  of  which  is  not  defined  by  Ezekiel,  will  not  take  place,  as  we  are 
taught  by  St.  John,  till  1000  years  either  natural  or  prophetic  after  the  restoration  of 
ihe  feivs.  This  war  of  Gog  and  'Magog  will  be  discussed  at  large  in  the  work,  whicii, 
as  I  have  already  mentioned,  I  am  nor/  preparing  for  the  press. 

*  Dan.  vii.  12,  Rev.  xic.  7,  8,  9,  f  Dau.  vii.  13.  Rev.  xx.  11. 


m 


61 

given  diirinc^  the  space  of  three  times  and  a  1ialJ\  is  the 
same  as  the  second  beast  ^  ox  the  false  prophet^  of  the  Apoc- 
alypse, who  was  to  instigate  the  ten-horned  beast  to  make 
war  upon  the  saints  during  the  synchronical  period  of  42 
months.^  The  second  oj' the  little  horns^  which,  as  we 
shall  hereafter  see,  was  to  flourish  in  the  East  during  the 
same  space  of  1260  dai/s,^  and  to  the  end  of  the  2300, 
2400,  or  2200,  dai/s,  is  the  spiritual  dominion  of  the 
Apocalijptic  Abaddon^  the  angel  of  the  bottomless  pit 
and  the  king  of  the  locusts,  which  is  prolonged,  though 
under  a  different  name,  during  the  reign  of  the  Euphra* 
t^an  horsemen.*  And  the  impious  king,  whose  charac- 
teristic mark  is,  that  he  should  not  regard  any  god, I  is 
the  great  Antichrist  predicted  by  St.  John  :  who,  in  a 
similar  manner,  was  to  deny  both  the  Father  and  the 
Son  4  whose  primary  and  only  partial  developement 
was  to  take  place  at  the  end  of  the  second  ze'oe,§  who 
was  to  be  fully  revealed  at  the  blast  of  the  third  woe  ;\\ 
who  was  to  pour  like  an  overwhelming  flood  upon  the 
symbolical  woman  during  the  latter  part  of  her  sojourn  in 
the  wilderness  ,-^  who  was  to  be  the  instrument  of  God's 
vengeance  during  the  period  of  the  figurative  harvest  ;** 
who  was  to  perish  between  the  two  seas,  united  with 
the  false  prophet,  at  the  time  of  the  vintage  ,ff  and 
whose  exploits  are  more  largely  and  particularly  de- 
tailed under  the  seven  Vials.1^'^ 

\  Dan.  vii.  8,  25.     Rev.  xiii.  5,  1 1. 

§  In  aisoluts  strictness  oi  speech,  t/je  second  little  horn,  will  not  exist  during  the 
•whole  1260  days,  although  Mohammedism  will,  of  which  this  horn  is  the  symbol;  be- 
cause Mohammedism  did  not  become  a  horn  of  the  he-goat,  until  about  30  years  after 
its  original  commencement.     But  more  will  be  said  on  this  subject  hereafter. 

*  Dan.  viii.  9,  13,  14.     Rev.  ix.  f  Dan.  xi.  36.  |  1  John  ii.  22. 

§  Rev.  xi.  13.  11  Rev.  xi.  15.  f  Rev.  xii.  15. 

*•  Rev.  xiv.  14,  \5,  16.  ft  Dan.  xi.  45.    Rev.  xix.  11—21.  Rev.  xiv.  17—20.. 

\\  Rev.  xvi. 


62 


CHAPTER    II. 

On  the  Symholical  Language  of  Prophecy. 

THE  illustrious  Sir  Isaac  Newton  has  well  ob- 
served, that  "for  understanding  the  prophecies^  we  are, 
in  the  first  place,  to  acquaint  ourselves  \\\i\i  the  figurative 
language  of  the  prophets^*  He  has  accordingly  given 
us  a  catalogue  of  symbols  with  their  several  interpreta^ 
tions,  of  which  1  shall  occasionally  avail  ujyself  in  the 
course  of  the  following  disquisition  ;  the  main  object 
of  which  is  to  point  out  and  insist  upon  the  exact  pre^ 
cision  ofthe  prophetic  language. 

The  predictions  of  Daniel  and  St.  John  are,  with  the 
single  exception  of  Daniel's  last  prophecy,  written  in 
the  language  of  symbols.  It  will  be  necessary  there- 
fore to  ascertain  the  import  of  the  several  symbols 
"which  are  used  in  their  writings  :  for,  without  a  right 
understanding  of ///e  symbols.,  it  is  impossible  to  leara 
what  things  are  designed  to  be  represented  by  them  ; 
and,  unless  we  learn  what  things  are  designed  to  be 
represented  by  them,  it  will  be  a  fruitless  labour  to  at- 
tempt to  interpret  the  prophecies  themselves. 

In  the  ordinary  languages  of  men,  words  are  the  signs 
of  things.  Different  zvorcls  however  are  frequently  used 
in  all  languages  to  express  nearly  the  same  thing  :  whence 
they  are  termed  si/nojiyms  :  and  the  use  of  them,  so  fav 
from  making  a  language  obscure,  lenders  it  more  copious^ 
and  consequently  7nore  beautiful.  But,  in  some  instan- 
ces, the  matter  is  precisely  reversed  :  and  the  same  word 
is  used  to  express  different  things.  Whenever  this  oc- 
curs, a  degree  of  o^^c^W^?/,  which  is  a  manifest  defect 
in  a  language,  is  necessarily  introduced  :  and  the  obscu- 
rity is  greater  or  less,  both  according  as  the  same  word 
represents  a  greater  or  a  less  number  o^  dijfereiit  things^ 
and  in  proportion  as  its  context  enables  us  less  or  more 
to  ascertain  the  precise  meaning  designed  to  be  annexed 
to  it  in  any  particular  passage. 

*  Observations  on  the  Prophecies,  p.  16, 


Let  us  apply  these  remarks  to  the  symbolic allanguage 
of prophecif.  li various  symbols  be  used  to  represent 
the  same  things  we  shall  be  in  no  danger  of  mistaking 
the  prophet's  meaning,  provided  only  we  can  ascertain 
the  import  of  each  individual  symbol :  because  such 
variety  will  only  serve  to  heighten  the  beauty  of  the 
imagery,  without  introducing  the  slightest  degree  of 
obscurity.  But,  if,  on  the  contrary,  the  same  symbol  be 
used  to  express  many  dijjerent  things^  which  have  no 
necessary  analogical  relation  to  each  other  ;  it  will  be 
utterly  impossible  to  understand  a  prophecy  couched  in 
such  ambiguous  terms ^  because  the  context  can  never  lead 
us,  as  is  the  case  in  ordinary  languages,  to  any  certain 
interpretation  of  it. 

Upon  this  principle  the  symbolical  language  of  proph- 
ccij  is  constructed.  In  the  rich  imagery  of  Daniel  and 
St.  John,  different  symbols  are  frequently  used  to  express 
the  same  thing  :  but  no  one  symbol  is  ever  used  to  express 
different  things  ;  unless  such  different  things  have  a 
manifest  analogical  resemblance  to  each  other.  Hence 
the  language  of  symbols^  being  purely  a  language  of 
ideas^  is  in  one  respect  more  perfect  than  any  ordinary 
language  can  be  :  it  possesses  the  variegated  elegance 
oi  synonyms,  \\\\.\\owi 'dny  oi  the.  obscurity  which  arises 
from  the  use  of  ambiguous  terms.* 

As  prophecy  relates  both  io  things  temporal diwd  things 
spiritual,  its  symbols  must  be  divided  into  two  grand 
classes ;  the  one  typifying  temporal,  and  the  other, 
spiritual,  objects.  And  here  it  may  be  observed,  that 
every  division  of  these  tzi)o  parallel  classes  has  a  kind  of 
leading  symbol,  which  comprehends  and  is  connected 
with  a  variety  of  other  symbols  belonging  to  the  division 
of  which  this  is  the  head.     Thus,  the  symbolical  heaven 

*  In  some  measure  the  Hebrew  language  forms  an  exception  to  the  arbitrary  am- 
biguity of  other  languages.  "  It  will  be  demonstratively  evident  to  any  one,"  says 
Mr.  Parkhurst,  "  who  will  attentively  examine  the  subject,  that  the  Hebrew  lan- 
guage is  idi'al ;  or  that  from  a  certain,  and  that  no  great,  number  of  primitive  and 
apparently  arbitrary  words,  called  roots,  and  usually  expressive  of  some  idea  or  notion 
taken  from  nature,  that  is  from  the  external  objects  around  us,  or  from  our  own 
constitutions,  by  our  senses  or  feelings,  all  the  other  words  of  that  tongue  are  derived 
or  grammatically  formed  ;  and  that,  wherever  the  radical  letters  are  the  same,  tie 
leading  idea  or  notion  runs  through  all  the  dejlectiens  of  the  ivord,  however  numerous.  Or 
diversified."     Preface  to  Heb.  Lexicon. 


6* 

comprehends  the  snn^  the  moon^  and  the  stars  :  and  thus, 
the  sijmhol'wal  earth  comprehends  the  sea,  the  rivers,  the 
is/amis,  and  the  mountains.  The  several  divisions  of  the 
two  parallel  classes  shall  be  treated  of  in  their  order. 

1.  The  sifmbolical  heaven,  when  interpreted  temporal- 
hj,  ^\^m^^'s,  t tie  whole  bodif  politic.  As  such,  it  compre- 
hends the  sun,  or  the  sovereign  power  wheresoever  it  be 
lodged  ;  the  moon,  or  the  people  which  is  the  allegorical 
■wife  of  the  sovereign  power  ;  and  the  stars,  or  the  princes 
and  nobles  of  the  realm.  If  this  idea  be  further  pursued 
from  a  single  kingdom  and  from  an  undivided  empire  to 
cm  empire  split  info  manif  kingdoms  like  the  Roman  em- 
pire, the  sun  will  be  the  government  of  that  state,  which 
from  its  superiority  of  power  resembles  the  bright  orb  of 
daij  in  the  midst  of  the  stars  qx  independent  kings  of  the 
imperial  firmament ;  and  the  moon  will  be  the  whole  bodij 
of  the  people  throughout  the  whole  empire.  Such  being 
the  case,  the  blackening  of  the  sun,  the  turning  of  the 
moon  into  blood,  the  falling  of  the  stars,  and  the  depart- 
mg  of  ttie  heavens  like  a  sc?wwl,  will  mean  either  the  sub- 
version of  a  kingdom,  or  the  subversion  of  an  empire^ 
according  as  the  tenor  of  the  prophecy  shall  determine  : 
while  the  shooting  of  a  single  star  from  heaven  to  earth 
denotes  the  downfall  of  a  sovereign  prince.*  Upon  the 
same  principle,  the  eclipsing  of  the  heavenly  bodies  means 
a  partial  calamity,  not  extending  to  the  utter  subversion 
of  the  whole  kingdom  or  empire  :  and,  zvhen  the  sun  is  said 
to  scorch  men  with  f  re,  a  grievous  tifranny,  exercised  by 
the  supreme  power,  whether  at  the  head  of  o  kingdom  or 
an  empire,  is  denoted.  The  political  heaven  is  sometimes 
termed  the  air  :  in  which  case,  as  thunder,  lightning,  hail, 
and  clouds,  are  generated  and  supported  in  the  atmos- 
phere ;  so  convulsions,  tumults,  and  uproars,  are  produced 
and  maintained  in  an  ill-regulated  or  expiring  body  politic. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  symbolical  heaven,  when  inter- 
preted spirit uallif,  signifies  the  whole  bodij  of  the  church 
militant,  considered  as  including  both  Christ  its  head  and 
all  the  members  of  his  mystical  body.\     In  this  case,  the 

*  See  Isaiah  xiv.  12. 

f  Hence  we  find  the  Church  militant  perpetually  described  in  the  parables  as  th: 
iingdom  of  heaven,      (See  particularly  Matt.  xm.  24 — 50.)      lu  all  the  parables,  con- 


65 

snn  will  represent  our  Lord;  the  9?ioon,  his  allegorical 
consort  i he  Church  ;  and  the  stars,  his  appointed  y^a^/or^ 
and  teachers.  Christ  however  is  not  only  the  head  of  his 
faithful  people,  the  sii?i  o^  then  religious  system  ;  but  he 
is  likewise  "  a  priest  for  ever  after  the  order  of  Mel- 
chisedek/^  Hence  he  is  typified,  not  only  by  the  sun, 
but  by  a  star  also,  termed,  by  way  of  eminence  over  all 
other  stars  or  priests,  "  the  bright  and  morning  star"* 
The  spiritual  heaven,  or  the  Church,  is  God's  appointed 
channel  of  conveying  blessings  to  his  people:  the  soft 
dews,  and  gentle  rains  therefore  of  this  spiritual  heaven 
symbolize  the  graces  of  the  Holif  Ghost.'\  Lastly,  as 
the  present  heaven  s\^n\f\es  the  Church  militant;  so  a 
nezo  heaven,  succeeding //^e  present  heaven  when  it  passes 
away,  is  the  Church  triumphant,"^ 

2.  The  earth,  when  taken  in  a  temporal  sense,  imports 
in  the  abstract  the  territorial  dominions  of  any  Pagan  or 
irreligious  empire.  The  sea,  ever  turbulent  and  restless, 
represents  nations  in  a  tumultuary  or  revolutionary  state. 
A  flood  is  a,  large  bodij  of  men  put  in  motion  for  some 
given  purpose,  rarely,  perhaps  never,  a  good  one.  Riversi 
and  fountains  mean  nations  and  their  political  heads  while 
in  a  tranquil  state  ;  their  affairs  flowing  along  in  a  gentle 
and  even  course  like  the  stream  of  a  river,  and  not  sub- 
ject to  violent  agitations  like  the  sea.§  An  earthquake 
is  ft  sudden  convulsion  in  an  empire,  violently  overturning 

tained  in  this  chapter,  since  both  good  and  bad  are  represented,  as  being  equally 
included  in  the  kingdom  ef  bea-ven,  and  since  it  is  declared  that  a  final  separation  be- 
tween them  will  only  take  place  at  the  day  of  judgment ;  it  is  evident,  that  the  king- 
dom ofhea-ven,  which  tbey  spoak  of,  is  not  the  literal  and  future,  but  the  symbolical  and 
present,  kingdom. 

*  Rev.  ii.  28.  and  xxii.  16.     See  also  Numb.  xxiv.  17. 

f  See  Isaiah  xliv.  3.  and  Rev.  xvii.  15.  See  also  Sir  Isaac  Neivtons  Observatknt  en 
Daniel,  p.  \9. 

\  There  is  one  instance,  in  which  this  set  of  hieroglyphics  is  applied  to  domestic 
life  ;  and  another,  the  only  one  in  the  Apocalj^Dse,  in  which  it  is  used  to  describe  th^ 
Pagan  hierarchy  and  religion.  (See  Gen.  xxjcvii.  9,  10.  and  Rev.  vi.  12,  13,  14.)  la 
both  these  cases  however  the  very  same  ruling  idea  may  be  observed,  as  when  the 
symbols  are  applied  to  an  empire  or  to  a  pure  religion. 

§  Sir  Isaac  Newton  supposes,  that  fountains  are  "  cities,  the  permanent  heads  of 
ri-vers  pelitic  .•"  but  the  Other  interpretation  appears  to  me  more  agreeable  to  sym- 
bolical analogy.  As  fountains  are  the  heads  of  rii/ers,  so  are  sovereigns  the  beads  of  their 
people  :  whence  we  are  accustomed,  even  in  our  ordinary  conversation,  to  style  the 
king  the  fountain  of  honours  and  dignities  :  we  might  add,  of  all  public  offices,  both 
civil  and  mihtary;  and,  in  most  countries,  of  the  laws  also, 
VOJ..   I.  t) 


66 

the  existing  order  of  things  ;  as  a  literal  eartliqirake  su]>- 
verts  cities  and  villages,  and  occasions  universal  confu- 
sion and  destruction.  Mountains  and  islands  are  king- 
doms and  states.  The  fuming  of  the  sea  into  blood  de- 
notes the  bloodshed  occasioned  by  tumults  awl  revolutions  : 
and  f/'ie  dn/ing  up  of  a  political  rive?-^  signifies  the  grad^ 
iial  exhaustion  and  declension  of  the  particular  nation 
symbolized  by  that  river.  If  we  consider  this  set  of  hie- 
roglyphics in  a  limited  po'mt  of  view,  the  earth  will  mean, 
not  merely  the  territorial  dominions  of  any  irreligious 
empire  taken  in  the  abstract^  but  the  dominions  of  that 
particular  empire  zohich  is  in  open  opposition  to  the 
Church  of  Christ  during  the  period  of  the  chronological 
prophecy  xvhich  treats  of  it.  Thus  the  four  beasts^  mirn- 
tioned  in  one  of  Daniel's  visions,  are  said  to  arise  out  of 
the  sea,  or  out  of  the  midst  of  cojifiicting  nations :  and 
the  angel  afterwards  explains  them  as  being  /y«r  king' 
doms  or  empires,  which  should  arise  out  of  the  earth  or 
the  general  territorial  dominions  of  Faganism,  as  opposed 
to  the  Levitical  Church  of  God.  Afterwards,  when  the 
affairs  of  the  Jewish  nation  were  specially  connected 
with  the  four  great  empires  in  regular  succession  to  the 
almost  entire  exclusion  of  other  states  ;  each  of  these 
earths  or  Pagan  e?npires  became  successively  the  sifmbol- 
ical  earth  or  Pagan  state  hostile  to  the  Mosaical  heaven 
or  Church,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  earths.  And 
even  the  Jeivish  nation  itself,  when  it  had  filled  up  the 
measure  of  its  iniquities  by  crucif\'ing  the  Lord  of  life, 
became  an  earth  or  ant ichristian  state  in  opposition  to  the 
real  church  of  God.*  Now  the  ivhole  of  the  Revelation 
relates  to  that  part  of  the  reign  of  the  fourth  or  Roman 
beast,  which  was  about  to  succeed  the  period  of  time  when 
St.  John  wrote  :  consequently,  whenever  the  temporal 
symbol  earth  occurs  in  the  Apocalypse,  it  invariably 
means  the  territorial  dominions  of  the  Roman  empire^ 
whether  existing  under  its  sixth  or  seventh  head,  and 
whether  united  in  one  great  monarchy  or  branching  out 

*  "  All  the  tribes  of  the  earth"  that  is,  the  Je-zvish  earth,  "  shall  mourn."  (Matt.  iiiv. 
so.)  This  prophecy  may  possibly  relate  ultimately  to  the  times  of  the  second  ad- 
vent ;  but  there  seems  to  be  little  doubt,  that  it  primarily  relates  to  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem. 


67 

into  ten  regal  horns  *  This  beino^  the  case,  the  sea^  the 
rivers^  thejoimtams^  thejloods^  the  islands^  the  mountains^ 
and  the  earthquakes^  o^  the  apocnlijptic  earthy  denote  the 
very  same  objects  and  circumstances  as  those  of  the  polit- 
ical earth  when  considered  ahstractedhf  and  generally^ 
only  zvith  a  Uniitation  either  to  the  pagan  or  the  papal 
jRomun  empire. 

A^ery  few  of  this  set  of  synibols  are  ever  used  in  a  spir- 
itual sense.  The  earth  however,  when  taken  in  that  ac- 
ceptation, denotes  a  state  of  paganism  or  apostacij  ;  that 
ve?'i/  state  in  short,  which  is  the  main  characteristic  of  « 
temporal  earth,  or  a  pagan  or  apostate  empire.  Hence 
the  shooting  of  a  star  from  heaven  to  earth  is  the  apos- 
tacij  of  a  Christian  pastor ;  being  a  desertion  of  heaven  or 
the  Churchy  for  the  earth  or  an  heretical  and  antichrist- 
tan  state. ^  A  mountain  imports  the  triumphant  kingdom 
of  the  Messiah  ;  which,  from  a  stone  or  a  small  beginnings 
is  to  become  a  great  mountain  and  fill  the  whole  earth,"^ 
beii>g  established  upon  the  top  of  all  other  mountains  or 
kingdoms,  and  being  exalted  above  all  other  hills  or  pettif 
states.^  Accordingly  Daniel  informs  us,  that  the  king- 
dom., symbolized  by  a  great  mountain  in  the  dream  of 
Nebuchadnezzar,  should  never  be  destroyed  ;  but  that  it 
should  break  in  pieces,  and  consume,  all  the  kingdoms: 
which  had  preceded  it  :[|  in  other  words,  that  it  should 
divest  them  of  their  characters  of  being  kingdoms  of  the 
si/mbolical  earth.,  and  should  cause  them  to  become  king- 
doms of  the  srpnboiical  heaven.  As  temporal  rivers  sig- 
nify nations  in  a  settled  state  :   so,  in  the  blessed  region 

*  From  a  want  of  due  attention  to  the  remarkable  precision  oithe  symbolical  language 
of  prophecy,  Mr.  Galloway  has  annexed  no  less  than  Jive  different  significations  to  the 
word  earth,  all  within  the  compass  of  the  single  book  of  the  Apocalypse,  and  two  of 
them  within  the  compass  even  of  a  single  chapter  of  that  book ;  thereby  rendering  it, 
upon  his  scheme,  utterly  impossible  to  ascertain  the  definite  meaning  of  St.  John. 
In  Rev.  viii.  13,  he  supposes  the  earth  to  signify  Christian  Rome  in  her  schismatic  and 
•wicked  state,  previous  to  the  commencement  of  what  may  be  properly  termed  thi 
Papal  domination  :  in  Rev.  xvi.  4,  the  Papal  Apostacy  ;  in  Rev.  xii.  9,  Atheism  ;  in  Rev, 
xii.  1 6,  Germany  ;  and  lastly,  in  Rev.  xiii,  11,12,  14,  the  revolutionary  poiver  of  France. 
See  Comment,  p.  167,  where  all  these  di£k^nt  interpretations  of  the  same  symbol  are  sum- 
med up  together  even  by  Mr.  Galloway  himself.  It  is  somewhat  remarkable,  that 
not  one  of  them  is  the  true  one. 

f  This  self-same  compound  hieroglyphic,  when  used  in  a  temporal  sense,  denotes 
as  I  have  already  oh^sixeA,  the  downfall  of  a  sovereign  prince. 

i  Dan.  ii.  34,  35,  §  Isaiah  il  g.  H  Dan.  ii.  44. 


68 

of  eternal  felicity,  we  are  figuratively  told,  that  there  is 
^'^  a  pure  river  ofzvater  of  life ^  clear  as  crystal,  proceed- 
ing out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  ;"  appa- 
rent ly  typifying  the  everlastingUf  settled  state  of  the  pious^ 
and  as  such  free  both  from  those  sudden  miry  floods 
which  swell  and  pollute  the  streams  of  temporal  rivers, 
and  from  that  gradual  exhaustion  which  so  frequently 
dries  up  their  political  zvatcrs  and  converts  them  into 
shallow  brooks.^  And,  2.^  the  temporal  sea  aptly  typifies 
loorldlif  nations  ever  agitated  and  unsettled  :^  so  we  are 
specially  informed  by  the  apocalyptic  prophet,  that  here- 
after there  shall  be  "■  no  more  sea  ;"  save  onh'  a  clear  "  sea 
of  glass  like  unto  cnjstal^''  and  consequently  incapable 
of  being  ever  ruffled. 

3.  The  third  set  of  symbols  commences  with  that  of 
a  citij^  under  vi'hich  may  be  arranged  various  other  sym- 
bols connected  with  it.  In  the  Apocalypse /2c;oci//e5  are 
mentioned,  the  great  city  and  the  holy  city^  the  city  of 
the  dragon  and  the  city  of  the  Lamb.  The  great  city  is 
the  Roman  empire,  both  temporal  and  ecclesiastical^  both 
secular  and  papal ;  the  mystic  name  of  which  is  Babylon  : 
the  holy  citij  is  the  Church  of  Christ,  the  mystic  name  of 
which  \s  Jerusalem.  The  great  city,  thus  representing- 
both  the  spiritual  empire  of  the  Pope,  and  the  temporal 
empire  which  upheld  his  authority,  is  accordingly  exhib- 
ited to  us  as  a  harlot  or  apostate  church  riding  trium- 
phant upon  a  beast  or  idolatrous  empire.  It  is  moreover 
said  to  consist  o^  ten  parts  or  streets,  which  answer  to 
the  ten  horns  of  the  beast,  and  which  denote  the  ten  king- 
doms mio  which //fe  Roman  ewyj?r(?  was  divided.  J  in 
this  same  great  citij,  which  is  spiritually  termed  Sodom 
and  Eygpt,  and  within  the  limits  of  which  (the  province 
of  Judea)  our  Lord  was  crucified,  is  the  throne  or  seat  of 
the  dragon,  which  he  has  transferred  to  his  special  dele- 

*  If  the  reader  dislike  this  interpretation  of  the  river  of  life,  let  him  by  all  means 
reject  it.  Though  I  have  been  led  to  it,  as  perhaps  most  agreeable  to  symbolical 
analogy,  I  am  by  no  means  disposed  to  ina..  i  upon  its  propriety.  It  may,  or  it  may 
not,  be  the  true  exposition. 

f  "  The  wicked  are  like  the  troubled  sea  when  it  cannot  rest,  whose  waters  cast  up 
mire  and  dirt.  There  is  no  peace,  saith  my  God,  to  the  wicked."  (Isaiah  Ivii.  20, 
21.)  The  same  allegorical  language  is  used  by  St.  Jude.  "  Raging  waves  oi  the  sea, 
foaming  out  their  own  shame."     Jude  1 3. 

J  Rev,  xi.  IS. 


69 

gate  the  beast.  If  then  the  city  mean  the  empire^  the 
throne  will  signify  the  tyrannical  uutlioritij  exercised  within 
the  empire  :  a  throne^  even  in  our  ordinary  mode  of 
speaking,  being  useii  as  synonymcjus  with  the  authority 
exercised  from  the  throne.  The  great  citif  is  described  as 
being  seated  upon  the  sea^"^  so  as  to  be  a  conspicuous 
object  to  those  who  navigate  it  ;  and,  like  opulent  natu- 
ral cities,  as  having  abundance  of  merchants  and  ship" 
masters.  These  merchants.,  who  enrich  thems^'ives  by 
trading  with  her,  are  declared  by  the  prophet  to  be  the 
great  men  of  the  earth  or  Roman  empire. '\ 

As  the  great  Babijlon  is   the   same   as   the  symbolical 
earth  or  Roman  empire ;  so  the  holy  cify  is  the  same   as~ 

*  That  is,  the  troubled  ocean  of  worldly  politics  and  conflicting  nations.  (See  the 
preceding  remarks  on  the  symbolical  sea. J  In  a  similar  manner,  tbi  great  scarlet  ivhore 
is  represented  as  sitting  upon  many  -waters  ;  which  the  angel  afterwards  explains  to 
signify  '■^peoples,  and  multitudes,  and  nations,  and  tongues  T      Rev.  XVU.  1,  15. 

f  It  might  seem  from  Rev.  xvii.  9,  1 8.  that  the  great  city  does  not  mean  the  Roman 
tmpire,  but  the  literal  city  of  Rome.  To  such  an  opinion  however  there  are  insupera- 
ble objections  The  harlot,  who  is  said  to  be  Babylon,  or  the  great  city,  is  evidently  the 
adulterous  church  of  Rome,  after  the  period  when  the  Empire  had  been  divided  into  ten 
kingdoms.  That  Church  however,  although  its  peculiar  seat  was  the  literal  se-vcr, -hilled 
city,  extended  its  sw^ay  over  the  -whole  Western  Empire  :  consequently  the  church  of  Rome, 
in  its  largest  acceptation,  must  be  the  apocalyptic  Babylon,  or  the  g.eat  city,  unless  we  con- 
fine it  (which  is  an  absurdity)  within  the  limits  oi  literal  Rome.  Hence  the  spiritual  great 
city  must  mean  the  -whole  papal  empire.  So  again  :  since  our  Lord  is  said  to  have  been 
crucified  in  the  great  city,  and  since  the  great  city  undoubtedly  means  Rome  in  some 
sense  or  another,  it  is  evident  that  the  secular  great  city  cannot  be  literal  Rome,  because 
our  Lord  never  luas  crucified  there  ;  whereas  he  -u'as  crucified  in  the  great  city,  if  by 
it  we  understand  the  -whole  Roman  empire.  Further  ;  the  frst  apocalyptic  beast,  which  is 
undoubtedly  the  Roman  empire,  is  said  to  have  ten  horns  or  kingdoms  ;  and  the  great  city 
is  said  to  consist  of  ten  different  parts  or  streets.  (Rev.  xi.  13.)  Hence  it  is  nacural  to 
conclude,  that  the  ten  parts  of  the  city  are  the  same  as  the  ten  horns  of  the  beast.  But,  if 
that  be  the  case,  the  great  city  must  mean  the  empire  at  large.  It  is  described  indeed  as 
seated  upon  se-ven  hills  in  allusion  to  the  site  of  its  literal  capital  -,  but  we  are  more- 
over informed  that  the  se-ven  heads  rf  the  beast  allude  to  seven  forms  of  goveriime:it,  a  cir- 
cumstance which  plainly  shews  that  the  empire  as  including  the  city  must  be  intended. 
For,  if  we  confine  the  great  city  of  the  Apocalypse  to  literal  Rome,  we  shall  find  it  im- 
possible to  discover  w^ithin  the  literal  city  of  Rome  all  the  seven  forms  of  government 
and  the  eighth  which  is  one  of  the  seven.  Some  have  supposed  the  short-lii-ed  se-ventb 
bead  to  be  the  Exarchate  of  Ravenna,  some  the  line  of  Italian  Geesars  from  the  death  of  The-' 
odosius,  and  some  the  kingdom  af  the  Ostrogoths.  None  of  these  powers  however  made 
Rome  their  capital.  In  short,  let  us  interpret  the  short-li-ved  senenth  head  ai  we  please, 
we  shall  find  nothing  within ///^ra/  Rome  that  at  all  answers  to  the  prophetic  descrip- 
tion of  it.  If  then  we  are  obliged  to  go  without  the  limits  of  literal  Rzme  to  discover 
all  the  heads  of  the  beast,  the  great  city  must  likewise  be  understood  as  extending  without 
the  limits  of  literal  Rime.  In  short,  as  the  great  city  Babylon  means  not  only  Babylon 
itself  but  likewise  the  Babylonian  empire;  SO  the  great  c'.ty  Rome  means  not  onlv  Rome 
itself,  but  likewise  the  luhole  Roman  empire.  The  one  is  used  as  a  tvpe  of  the  other  : 
and,  in  addition  to  their  mutual  resemblance  in  other  particulars,  they  are  perhaps 
the  only  two  large  powers  tliat  have  ever  existed,  whose  empire  and  whose  capital 
flty  have  each  borne  the  same  name. 


70 

the  first  heaveti^  or  church  militant^  whence  it  is  also 
aptly  termed  a  camp.  After  the  beloved  city  or  first 
heaven  of  the  millennium  shall  have  passed  away,  it  will 
be  succeeded  by  the  second  holy  city,  the  new  heaven., 
the  church  triumphant,  the  duration  of  which  shall  be 
commensurate  with  eternity  itself. 

This  holy  city  of  God  is  furnished,  like  the  literal 
Jerusalem,  with  a  temple,  an  altar,  and  a  court  without 
the  temple,  ft  hath  also  a  sanctuarij  and  a  daily  sacri- 
fice :  and  in  the  midst  of  it  is  the  throne  of  God  and  the 
ark  of  his  covenant.  In  the  temple  moreover  are  tzco 
olive-frees  and  two  candlesticks^  which  are  the  two  zvit- 
nesses  of  Christ. 

To  understand  the  import  of  this  imagery,  we  must 
consider  the  nature  of  the  visible  Church  of  Christ. 
Now  that  Church  hath  ever  been  of  a  two-fold  nature, 
comprehending  both  the  really  pious,  and  those  who,  to 
use  the  words  of  Daniel,  only  '■''cleave  to  it  zoith  fatte- 
ries"  or  zoho,  in  the  language  of  another  prophet,  "  have 
a  name  that  they  live,  and  are  dead.^^  Thefrst  of  these 
make  the  word  of  God  alone  the  standard  of  their  ac- 
tions ;  the  second  are  liable  to  be  "  carried  about  with 
every  wind  of  doctrine,"  and  are  therefore  peculiarly  ob- 
noxious to  the  danger  of  heresy  and  apostacy.  The  truly 
pious  then  are  the  mystical  temple  of  God  ;*  their  hearts 
are  his  throne,  inasmuch  as  they  alone  really  acknowl- 
edge his  dominion  (all  others,  nhatever  profession  they 
may  make,  being  practical  atheists  ;•]•)  and  their  prayers^ 
humbly  otFered  unto  the  Lord  in  a  reliance  upon  his  cov- 
enanted mercies  vouchsafed  through  the  sole  merits  of 
bis  Son,  are  the  daily  sacrifice  offered  upon  the  altar  be- 
fore the  ark  of  the  covenant.  The  real  Church  of  God 
however  is  not  to  be  confined  exclusively  to  the  times  of 
the  Christian  dispensation  ;  it  had  existed  from  the  very 

*  "  Know  ye  not,  that  ye  are  the  temple  of  God,  and  that  the  Spirit  of  God  dwell- 
eth  in  you  ?"  (1  Corin.  iii.  16.)  "  Ivnow  ye  not  that  your  body  is  the  temple  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  which  is  in  you  ?"  (1  Corin.  vi.  19.)  "  What  agreement  hath  the  tem- 
ple of  Gid  with  idols  .'  for  ve  are  the  temple  of  the  Hving  God ;  as  God  hath  said,  I 
will  dwell  in  them  and  walk  in  them  ;  and  I  will  be  their  God,  and  they  shall  be  my 
people."  (2  Corin.  vi,  IG.)  "  Christ  as  a  son  over  his  own  house,  ivhose  houic  arc  ice.'" 
iicb.  iii.  6. 

•^  A?t;/  jv  TM  Mc-fiiu\    Ephes.  ii,  1-. 


n 

heginnhig  of  the  zi)orId  m  the  hearts  of  the  faithful,  and 
had  afterwards  assumed  a  definite  form  in  the  age  of  Mo- 
ses and  i\aron.  Abraham  rejoiced  to  see  the  day  of  his 
Redeemer  ;  he  "  saw  it,  and  was  glad."  Moses  esteemed 
"  the  reproach  of  Christ  greater  riches  than  the  treasures 
of  Egypt."  The  ancient  patriarchs  "  all  died  in  faith, 
not  having  received  the  promises,  but  having  seen  them 
afaf  off."  In  short,  "  although  they  were  not  named 
Christian  men^  yet  was  it  a  Chrisiicm  faith  that  they  had  ; 
for  they  looked  for  all  benefits  of  God  the  Father,  through 
the  merits  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  as  we  now  do.  This 
difference  is  between  them  and  us,  that  they  looked  when 
Christ  should  come,  and  we  be  in  the  time  when  he  is 
come.  Therefore,  saith  St.  Augustin,  The  time  is  alter- 
ed and  changed,  but  not  the  faith  ;  for  we  have  both  one 
faith  in  Christ."*  Hence  we  find  in  the  ?nt/stic  temple 
two  double  si/mbols ;  namely  two  olive  trees  and  two  can- 
dlesticks. The  frsf  olive  tree,  and  Xhefrst  candlestick^ 
represent  the  Church  of  God  before  the  incarnation  of  our 
Lord  ;  and  the  second  olive  tree,  and  the  second  candle- 
stick., represent  the  Church  after  the  incarnation.  Ac* 
cordingly  the  prophet  Jeremiah  denominates  the  Leviti- 
cal  Church  '■^  a  green  olive  tree,  fair,  and  of  good  I i/ 
fruit  ;"|  and  St.  Paul,  adopting  the  same  symbolical 
imagery,  describes  the  conversion  of  the  gentiles  by  the 
figure  of  «  loild  olive  grafted  into  a  good  olive  and  thus 
producing  valuable  fruit  "^  As  for  a  candlestick,  our 
Lord  himself  declares  it  to  be  the  type  of «  Church.^ 
The  temple  then  symbolizing  the  faithful  z^orshippers  of 
God  ;  the  outer  court,  which  under  the  Levitical  dispen- 
sation was  set  apart  for  the  gentiles,  represents  those  who 
are  only  nominal  Christians  ;  and  the  treading  it  under 
foot  signifies  the  introduction  of  heresies  and  apostacies^ 
sufficient  to  deceive  even  the  elect  of  God,  were  thev 
not  secure  within  his  holy  temple  \\  In  a  similar  manner, 
the  profanation  of  the  sanctuarij,  the  abolition  of  the  daily 
sacrifice  which  is  offered  in  form  though  not  in  spirit  by 

*  2d  part  of  Horn,  of  faith. 
t  Jerem.  xi.  Iff.  ^  Rom.  xi.  17—24. 

§  Rev.  i.  20.  11  Matt,  xxiv.  24, 


72 

the  tares  as  well  as  by  the  wheat,*  and  the  setting  up  of 
the  abomination  of  desolation^  which  are  all  images  taken 
from  the  history  of  the  Jews,  and  which,  as  we  are 
taught  by  our  I^ord  himself,  signify  literally  the  sacking 
of  Jerusalem  bif  the  Romans  and  the  introduction  of  their 
abominable  idolatri/  into  the  very  precincts  of  the  tem- 
ple .-f  these  images,  when  taken  si/mbolicallf/,  mean  the 
introduction  of  impious  apostacies,  and  the  abolition,  or  at 
least  the  studied  interruption^  of  divine  worship. 

4.  A  chaste  woman  is  a  symbol  of  the  true  Church  ; 
which,  throughout  the  whole  of  Scripture,  is  considered 
as  the  bride  of  the  Lamb,  and  the  mother  of  his  spiritual 
children. :|: 

On  the  other  hand,  a  harlot  is  a  symbol  of  an  apostate 
and  idolatrous  Church.,  apostacy  and  idolatry  being  spir- 
itual whoredom  and  adultery.^ 

In  the  Apocalypse  mention  is  made  o{  two  women,  but 
of  a  very  different  character  from  each  other.  Thefor- 
iner  of  them  is  represented,  as  being  driven  into  the  wil- 
derness by  the  persecution  of  the  dragon  :  the  latter  is 
described,  as  being  also  in  the  wilderness,  but  as  riding 
there  triumphantly  awA  joyously  upon  a  scarlet  coloured 
beast.  This  symbol  of  «  wilderness  is  manifestly  borrow- 
ed from  the  history  of  the  children  of  Israel,  during  their 
sojourn  of  forty  years  in  the  great  wilderness;  and  it 
denotes  a  state  of  extreme  spiritual  barrenness  and  ig- 
norance. Into  such  a  "wilderness  of  religious  error  the 
woman,  who  is  the  symbol  of  the  true  Church,  \s  forcibly 
driven  by  the  infernal  serpent ;  where,  in  the  midst  of 
surrounding  abominations,  like  Israel  in  the  midst  of  the 
gentiles,  she  is  nourished  by  the  grace  of  God,  and  mi- 
raculously though  invisibly  upheld  by  the  power  of  his 

*   Matt.  xiii.  38. 

f  "  The  Roman  army  is  called  the  abomination  for  its  ensigns  and  images  which 
were  so  to  the  Jews.  As  Chrysostom  affirms,  every  idol  and  every  image  of  a  man 
was  called  an  abomination  among  the  Jews. — We  farther  learn  from  Josephus,  that 
after  the  city  was  taken,  the  Romans  brought  their  ensigns  into  the  temple,  and 
placed  them  over  against  the  eastern  gate,  and  sacrificed  to  them  there."  Bp.  New- 
ton's Dissert.  XIX. 

^  See  the  Song  of  Solomon — Isaiah  liv.  5 — Jerem.  xxxi.  32 — Hos.  ii.  2,  7— Ephes. 
V.  32 — Rev.  xix.  7   xxi.  9. 

§  See  Ezek.  xvi — Jerem.  iii— Rev.  xvii. 


73 

arm,  during  the  space  of  1260  days  or  three  years  and  a 
half;  as  the  Israelites  were  fed  with  manna,  the  type 
of  Christ  himself  who  is  the  spiritual  bread  of  his  church,* 
during  their  pilgrimage  o^  forty  years.  Into  the  same 
wilderness  also  of  spiritual  barrenness  and  ignorance  the 
great  whore^  who  is  the  symbol  o^  some  apostate  Church 
predicted  by  St.  John,  voluntarily  loithdraws  herself: 
where  she  sits,  as  a  queen,  upon  tlie  power  symbolized 
by  the  scar  lot  beast ;  and  labours  at  once  to  seduce  with 
her  blandishments,  and  to  terrify  with  her  threats,  the 
oppressed  Church  of  God. f 

5.  Another  symbol  of  the  church  is  a  vine.  When 
the  vine  is  properly  cultivated,  and  yields  good  fruit,  it  is 
the  true  church ;  but,  when  it  is  styled  the  vine  of  the 
earth,  and  is  described  as  yielding  sour  grapes  even  when 
thetj  are  fully  ripe,%  it  signifies  an  apostate  church.  This 
being  the  case,  gathering  the  clusters  of  the  vine  of  the 
earth,  and  treading  the  wme-press,  denote  the  just  wrath  of 
God  poured  out  upon  apostates  and  corrupters  of  his  word. 

6.  One  of  the  most  striking  hieroglyphics  however, 
among  those  which  are  used  in  the  writings  of  Daniel 
and  St.  John,  is  that  of  a  wild  beast.^     Several  different 

*  John  vi.  31 — 58.     Rev.  ii.  17. 

f  Mr.  Sharpe  has  very  injudiciously,  I  think,  followed  Sir  Isaac  Newton  in  con- 
founding these  tivo  luomen  together.  It  is  true,  that  the  great  luhore  was  once  the 
chaste  ivife  of  the  Lamb  ;  but,  by  her  withdrawing  into  the  ivilderness,  she  became 
an  essentially  different  character,  leaving  that  of  the  real  ivife  of  the  Lamb  to  those 
■who  protested  against  her  fornications,  and  whom  in  return  she  persecuted  and  trod  un- 
der foot.  The  prophetic  account  indeed  of  the  tivo  icomen  sufficiently  shews,  that 
they  cannot  be  esteemed  the  same  person  without  the  most  palpable  contradiction  ; 
for  the  ten-horned  beast,  upon  which  one  of  the  -women  triumphantly  rides,  is  the  agent 
and  instrument  of  the  very  ten-horned  Dragon,  which  is  SO  violent  a  persecutor  of  ths 
tther  "woman.  (Sir  Isaac  Newton's  Observ.p.  279—  Append,  to  Sharpe's  three  tracts 
p.  121,  122.)  Mr.  Galloway  is  guilty  of  the  same  error  of  supposing,  that  the  fight 
»f  the  ivo!??an  into  the  luilderness  mezus  her  apostacy.  (Comment,  p.  131.)  Bp.  Newton 
most  justly  adopts  the  contrary  opinion.  "  When  the  -woman,  the  true  Church,  was 
persecuted  and  afflicted,  she  was  said  to  fly  into  the  icilderness  :  and,  in  like  manner, 
when  the  -woman,  the  false  Church,  is  to  be  destroyed,  the  vision  is  presented  in  the 
•wilderness.  For  they  are  by  no  means,  as  some  have  imagined,  the  same  -woman  under 
various  representations.  They  are  totally  distinct  and  different  characters,  and  drawn 
in  contrast  to  each  other  ;  as  appears  from  their  whole  attire  and  behaviour,  and  par- 
ticularly from  these  two  circumstances  ;  that,  during  the  1260  years  while  the  -woman 
is  fed  in  the  -wilderness,  the  beast  and  the  scarlet  -whore  are  reigning  and  triumphant  ; 
and,  at  the  latter  end,  the  ivhore  is  burnt  with  fire,  when  the  -woman,  as  his  wife,  hath 
made  herself  ready  for  the  marriage  of  the  Lamb."     Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  in  loc. 

\  See  Isaiah  v.  xxvii. 

§  It  may  not  be  improper  to  observe,  that  a  different  word  is  used  by  St.  John  to 
express  the  four  cherubic  animals  who  join  with  the  twenty-four  elders  in  praising  God, 
and  the  t-ico  persecuting  beasts  of  the  sea  and  the  earth  :  the  former  »re  termed  iud,  or 
living  creatures  ;   and  the  latter,  5»oia,  or  -iiild  itasts  efprej. 

VOL.  I.  10 


74 

animals  of  the  rapacious  kind  are  introduced  for  this  pur- 
pose ;  and  occasionally  the  strict  laws  of  nature  are 
departed  from,  and  a  beast  is  des-^ribed  as  compounded 
of  several  other  beasts  in  order  to  convey  more  accu- 
rately the  import  of  the  prophecy. 

In  a  temporal  seuse^  a  zvild  beast  is  used  to  symbolize 
a  large  empire  professing  and  acting  upon  principles  ad^ 
verse  to  the  Church  of  Christ.  And  here  1  would  par- 
ticularly insist  upon  one  pointy  namely,  that  a  beast  never 
means  a  single  kingdom  considered  as  co-existinsr  with 
oM^7'/i;/«^</o>w^  all  jointly  in  opposition  to  the  Church; 
such,  for  instance,  as  unij  one  of  the  ten  kingdoms  into 
■which  the  Roman  empire  was  divided  :  but  always  an 
universal  empire^  that  is  to  say,  universal  so  far  as  the 
Church  is  concerned.^  A  temporal  beast  then  importing 
an  universal  empire^  its  heads,  if  it  be  represented  as  hav- 
ing ?nore  than  one,  sometimes  mean  dijferent  forms  of 
government  under  which  the  empire  in  question  has 
subsisted,  and  sometimes  different  kingdoms  into  which 
it  has  been  divided. •]•  Horns  likewise  mean  different 
kingdoms,  which  have  branched  out  from  the  imperial 
head  oi  a  once  universal  monarchij,  and  which  are  all 
subsisting  at  the  same  time:  and  the  tail,  which  is  the 
meanest  part  of  the  body,  s'v^ni^es  the  a?itichrisfian  su- 
perstition of  the  beast,  the  cause  by  which  he  is  rendered 
so  utterly  offensive  in  the  eyes  of  God.:{:  The  dominion  of 
a  beast  is  Jiis  power  of  persecution :  the  ife  or  vital 
principle  of  a  beast,  that  is  to  say,  the  principle  which 
causes  him  to  be  a  beast  is  his  idolatry  or  apostacij  :  and  the 

*  Other  Blasts  or  large  empires,  like  tliose  of  China  and  Hlitdosfan,  never  having  had 
any  connection  with  the  affairs  of  the  Church,  are  for  that  reason  left  unnoticed  by 
prophecy.  Of  the  beasts  or  empires  against  which  the  ram  pushed  with  so  much  suc- 
cess, one  was  the  lion  or  the  Babylonian  monarchy,  and  the  Others  were  states  with 
which  the  Church  had  no  connection,  such  as  the  kingdom  of  Cresus.  That  of  Egypt, 
which  was  conquered  by  Canibyses,  the  second  king  oi  the  ram,is  perhaps  the  only  ex- 
ception to  the  rule  of  a  beast  'meaning  an  uni-versaL  empire  so  far  as  the  Church  is  concerned, 
ha\iug  existed  along  with  the  Babylonian  empire,  and  having,  like  it,  been  much  con- 
nected with  the  Jeivs :  yet  even  £gypt  is  not  a  perfect  exception,  having  been  once 
subdued,  and  made  during  the  space  of  three  years  a  province  of  the  Babylonian  mon- 
archy, by  Esar-haddon.     Chron.  Tab.  to  Univ.  Hist.  p.  54. 

f  I  only  recollect  a  single  instance,  in  which  heads  mean  di^erent  kingdoms.  See 
Dan.  vii.  6. 

\  "  The  Lord  will  cut  off  from  Israel  head  and  tail,  branch  and  rush,  in  one  day. 
The  ancient  and  honourable,  (that  is,  the  governing  power)  he  is  the  head ;  and  the  pro- 
phet that  teacheth  lies.,  he  is  the  tail."     Isaiah  ix.  14,  15. 


75 

death  of  a  beast  is  the  destruction  of  this  vital  principle. 
Hence,  when  a  beast  is  said  to  exist  or  to  live,  the  mean- 
ing is,  that  the  empire  typified  by  the  beast  is  devoted  to 
idolatry  and  superstition.  When  he  is  said  to  cease  to 
exist  or  to  be  slain,  the  meaning  is,  not  that  his  temporal 
authoritif  is  destroifed,  but  that  he  has  put  azvay  his 
abomi?iations  ;  the  retaining  of  which  was  the  sole  cause 
of  his  being  a  beast,  and  consequently  the  resignation 
of  which  is  equivalent  to  his  ceasing  to  be  a  beast. 
When  he  is  said  to  exist  afresh  or  to  revive,  the  meaning 
is,  that  he  has  either  resumed  his  old  abominations,  or 
adopted  fresh  ones  equally  hateful  to  God ;  thereby 
again  acquiring  the  bestial  character,  which  he  had  be- 
fore happily  laid  aside.  And,  when  his  dominion  is  said 
to  be  taken  from  him,  the  meaning  is  that  he  is  deprived 
of  his  power  of  persecuting  the  Church.  In  this  last 
idea  the  loss  of  laiofil  temporal  authority  is  not  neces- 
sarily included.  The  dominion  o^  the  little  horn  of  the 
Roman  beast  has  already  begun  to  be  taken  away  by  the 
withdrawing  of  many  of  its  former  supporters  from  the 
communion  of  the  Church  of  Rome ;  and  eventually  it 
shall  be  deprived  of  the  remainder  of  its  dominion  and  of 
its  temporcd  authoritif  likewise  by  the  death  of  its  col- 
league and  supporter  the  secular  ten-horned  beast :  yet 
we  are  not  to  suppose,  that,  when  the  secular  beast 
ceases  to  exist  as  a  beast,  all  government  will  cease 
within  the  limits  of  what  was  once  his  empire.*  So 
again  :  though  the  little  horn  will  be  deprived  both  of 
its  dominion  and  its  temporal  authority,  since  the  two 
ideas  are  not  necessarily  connected,  it  does  not  therefore 
follow,  that,  because  the  other  beasts  are  to  be  deprived 
of  their  dominion,  they  shall  also  be  deprived  of  their 
temporal  authority.  On  the  contrary,  the  taking  aivay 
of  their  dominion  ivhile  their  lives  are  prolonged  means, 
not  that  the  pagan  nations,  which  shall  co-exist  with  the 
Church  during  the  millennium,  shall  possess  }io  temporal 
power  within  their  proper  territories,  but  only  (like  the 
empire  of  China  for  instance)  that  they  shall  possess  no 
power  of  persecuting  the  Church.-\     This  is  sufficiently 

*  Dan.  Tii.  1 1,  26.  f  Dan.  vli.  12. 


7a 

manifest  from  the  state  of  those  nations  at  the  close  of 
the  millennium,  as  it  is  described  both  by  Ezekiel  and 
St.  John.  In  the  writings  of  those  two  prophets,  they 
appear  as  a  regularly  organized  body  of  men,  making  no 
attempt  upon  the  pious  Christian  governments,  whicli 
^o\nt\y  conf>,t'itute  t/ie  Jifik  great  motiarc/nj,  or  spiritual 
empire  of  the  Messiah^  during  the  space  of  a  thousand 
years  ;  but  at  the  end  of  those  years  assailing  them  at 
the  instigation  of  Satan  with  the  utmost  rancour,  and 
perishing  in  consequence  of  it.  Hence  it  may  be  col- 
lected, that,  when  their  dominion  is  said  to  be  taken  away, 
the  meaning  must  be,  not  their  temporal  dominion  within 
their  own  limits^  but  their  power  oj  injuring  the  Chm^ch,*^ 

In  a  spiritual  or  ecclesiastical  sense,  a  beast  is  a  super- 
stition affecting  universal  dominion  ;  for  universaliti]^  as  \ 
have  already  observed,  is  the  peculiar  characteristic  of  a 
beast,  as  opposed  to  the  horn  of  a  beast.  On  the  same 
grounds,  a  horn,  in  an  ecclesiastical  sense,  is  a  spiritual 
kingdom  :  and,  as  such,  it  may  be  represented,  either  as 
springing  out  of  a  secular  beast,  or  out  of  an  ecclesiasti- 
cal beast.  In  the  former  case,  its  geographical  origin  is 
pointed  out ;  in  the  latter  case,  its  connection  with,  and 
subserviency  to,  a  spiritual  empire.  An  ecclesiastical 
kingdom  however  may  increase  into  an  ecclesiastical  em- 
pii^e,  and  it  may  then  have  ecclesiastical  kingdoms  subser- 
vient to  it.  Hence,  what  is  symbolized  in  one  prophecy 
by  the  horn  of  a  secular  beast,  may  hereafter  in  another 
prophecy  be  symbolized  by  a  distinct  spiritual  beast,  hav- 
ing a  proper  head  or  supreme  governor  and  proper  horns 
or  ecclesiastical  kingdoms  of  its  oivn.  There  is  only  ojie 
such  beast  mentioned  in  the  whole  Bible  ;  and  he  sup- 
J)lies  the  place  of  what  in  a  collateral  prediction  had  been 
represented  by  a  little  horn  s.raduallij  acquiring  unlimited 
power :  while,  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  mistaking  his 
character,  he  is  expressly  denominated  2i  false  prophet. \ 

These  beasts  have  both  a  natural  and  a  spiritual  origin. 
Hence  the  same  beast  is  sometimes  said  to  arise  both  out 

*  Ezek.  xxxviii.  xxxix.    Rev.  xx.  I — 10. 

f  Compare  Dan.  vii.  7,  8, 11,  20,  21,  24,  25.  with  Rev.  xiii.  1,  11,  16.  and  xix.  20. 
The  specific  character  •!  the  two  apocalytic  beasts  wUl  be  discussed  at  large  here- 
after. 


77 

of  the  sea^  and  out  of  the  bottomless  pit ;  the  former  ex- 
pression denoting  his  phijsical  birth  out  of  contending  na- 
tions^ and  the  latter  his  infernal  extraction. 

The  sovereign  and  instigator  and  spiritual  parent  of  the 
various  beasts  or  idolatrous  empires^  that  have  persecuted 
the  Church,  is  the  dragon  or  serpent.  This  fierce  and 
noxious  reptile,  when  simply  mentioned,  is  the  de-oil^ 
that  old  serpent  which  deceiveth  the  whole  world,  poi- 
soning the  principles  of  its  inhabitants,  and  introducing 
death  both  temporal  and  eternal  :  but,  when  described 
as  being  connected  with  certain  other  marks  or  symbols, 
it  is  the  devil  considered  as  acting  through  the  instrumen- 
iality  of  the  power  or  powers  thus  marked  or  symbolized. 
Accordingly  the  great  red  dragon  of  the  Apocalypse  is, 
as  we  are  repeatedly  assured  by  St.  John,  the  devil :  and, 
inasmuch  as  he  is  said  to  have  seven  heads  and  ten  horns, 
he  can  only  be  thus  described,  because  he  acts  through 
the  instrumentality  of  the  seven-headed  and  ten-horned 
beast ;  to  whom  he  is  said  to  have  given  his  power,  and 
his  seat,  and  great  authority.* 


CHAPTER    III. 

Concerning  the  scriptural  phrases  of  the  latter  days,  the 
last  days,  and  the  time  of  the  end, 

FOR  the  right  understanding  of  prophecy  it  is 
necessary  to  ascertain  the  meaning  of  certain  phrases, 
which  are  used  by  the  inspired  writers  to  describe  </«]^er- 
enf  future  periods.  The  phrases,  to  which  I  allude,  are 
the  latter  times  or  days,  the  last  times  or  days,  and  the  end 
or  the  time  of  the  end. 

Bp.  Newton  remarks,  that  the  two  former  of  these 
phrases  "  signify  primarily  anij  time  yet  to  come  ;  but  de- 
note more  particularly  the  times  of  Christianity  ;"  and  he 

•  Rev.  xKi,  2. 


7S 

adds,  that  sometimes  this  phraseology  relates,  not  only 
to  the  zsDhole  period  of  the  Christian  dispensation,  but 
likewise  to  the  latter  or  last  days  oi  the  latter  ox  last 
times.* 

In  this  observation  there  is  much  that  is  true  :  but  I 
cannot  think,  that  it  is  by  any  means  stated  so  accu- 
rately as  it  might  have  been. 

Throughout  the  Old  Testament^  the  two  apparently 
different  phrases  of  latter  days  and  last  days  never  once 
in  reaJit}^  occur.  The  single  expression.,  which  our  trans- 
lators thus  variouslij  render  comparatively  and  superlative- 
ly., (as  if  there  were  tico  different  expressions  in  the  orig- 
inal,) is  simply  CDNI  i'T'inj*,  the  end  of  daijs.  Conse- 
quentl}',  the  latter  aai/s  and  the  last  days  of  our  present 
translation  of  the  Old  Testament  must  mean  the  verii 
same  period,  whatever  that  period  may  be  ;  because  they 
are  each  equally  a  version  of  one  and  the  same  phrase^ 
which  literally  and  properly  ought  to  be  rendered  the  end 
of  daijs. 

The  end  of  days  means  primarily,  as  Bp.  Newton  very 
justly  remarks,  ajiy  time  yet  future  .-I  but  I  much  doubt, 
whether  it  ever  signifies  the  zchole  period  of  the  Chris- 
tian dispensation.  On  the  contrary,  whenever  it  is  not 
used  in  its  primary  sense,  I  believe  it  exclusively  to  re- 
late to  that  portion  of  time.,  which  begins  at  the  termina- 
tion of  the  great  Apostacy  of  1260  years,  and  zohich  ex- 
pires at  the  end  of  the  Millennium  and  at  the  consumma- 
tion of  all  things.  This  great  period  Mr.  Mede  styles 
the  kingdom  of  the  mountain  m  opposition  to  the  Icingdom 
of  the  stone  ;  in  other  words,  the  triumphant  reign  of 
Christianity  after  the  1260  years,  in  opposition  to  its 
depressed  state  before  the  expiration  of  that  term.  The 
end  of  days  therefore  includes  not  only  the  millennium^ 
but  the  7o  years  which  will  intervene  between  the  end 
of  the  1260  years  and  the  proper  commencement  of  the 
Millennium  ;  lohich  15  years  will  be  occupied  in  the  res- 

*  Dissert,  iv — Dissert,  xxiii.  3.  See  also  Mede's  Apostacy  of  the  latter  Times, 
Part  I.  Chap.  11. 

f  In  this  case,  perhaps  it  might  more  properly  be  translated  the  succession  of  days,  as 
denoting  what  Mr.  Mede  calls  j  continuation  or  length  of  time  :  for  n''^^^<  signifies  cither 
the  "whole  length  of  any  periodyOV  the  end  of  that  period. 


79 

toratlon  of  the  house  of  Israel,  and  in  the  destruction  of 
God's  enemies  J^ 

*  See  Dan.  xii.  6,7,  11,  12;  whence  it  appears,  that,  between  the  eKpiratlon  of  the 
three  times  and  a  half  or  the  1 260  years,  and  the  commencement  of  the  season  of  blessedness  at 
the  end  of  1  335  years,  just  75  years  intervene.  The  three  texts,  which  Bp.  NewtOn 
cites  to  shew  that  the  phrase  of  the  latter  or  last  days  or  the  end  of  days  denotes  the  iimes 
ef  Christianity,  seem  to  me  plainly  to  relate  to  the  millennian  period  Or  the  reign  of  the 
mountain . 

"  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  last  days,  or  at  the  end  of  days,  that  the  mountain  of 
the  Lord's  house  shall  be  established  in  the  top  of  the  mountains,  and  shall  be  ex- 
alted above  the  hills  ;  and  all  nations  shall  flow  unto  it."     Isaiah  ii.  2. 

"  But,  in  the  last  days,  or  at  the  end  of  days,  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  the  mountain  of 
the  house  of  the  Lord  shall  be  established  in  the  top  of  the  mountains,  and  it  shall 
be  exalted  above  the  hills  ;  and  people  shall  flow  unto  it."     Micah  iv.  1. 

"  But  this  is  that,  which  was  spoken  by  the  prophet  Joel  ;  And  it  shall  come  to 
pass  in  the  last  days  (saith  God)  I  will  pour  out  of  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh."  Acts  ii. 
16,  17. 

With  regard  to  the  tivo  first  of  these  texts,  let  any  person  compare  them  with  Dan. 
ii.  34,  35,  44,  45,  and  he  will  be  satisfied,  that  they  relate  exclusively  to  the  kingdom 
of  the  mountain,  or  the  millennium  :  which  was  not  to  commence,  as  we  are  plainly  in- 
formed by  Daniel,  till  after  the  destruction  of  the  feet  of  the  image,  or  the  ten-horned  Ho- 
man  beast :  that  is  to  say,  they  relate  to  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  when  no  longer  symbol- 
ized by  a  stone,  but  when  it  shall  have  become  a  great  mountain  filling  the  whole  earth. 
As  for  the  last  of  them,  it  is  undoubtedly  applied  by  St.  Peter  to  the  miraculous  ef- 
fusion of  the  Holy  Ghost  upon  the  day  of  Pentecost  ;  yet  it  is  as  undoubtedly  cited 
by  him  only  in  the  zvay  of  application.  The  whole  prophecy,  of  which  that  text  forms 
a  part,  relates  to  the  railages  of  some  fierce  and  laivless  people  symbolized  by  a  fiight  of  lo- 
custs, the  restoration  of  the  JeTvs,  the  o-jerthroiu  of  Antichrist  and  his  congregated  •uassah 
bet-ween  the  tivo  seas  in  the  -valley  of  concision,  and  the  glorious  rest  of  the  people  of  God  dur' 
ing  the  blessed  days  of  the  Millennium  :  consequently  it  can  only  have  been  applied  hy 
St.  Peter  to  the  times  of  the  first  ad-vent  of  our  Lord,  as  typical  in  some  measure  of 
the  times  of  his  second  ad-vent.  It  ought  to  be  observed,  that,  although  in  his  citation 
»f  the  text  the  Apostle  introduces  the  phrase  of  the  last  days,  (which  undoubtedly  in 
his  application  of  it  means  the  times  of  Christianity')  the  phrase  does  not  occur  in  the 
triginal  text  of  Joel :  no  argument  therefore  can  be  drawn  from  this  circumstance  to 
prove,  that  the  Old  Testament  phrase  of  the  end  of  days  is  equivalent  to  the  New  Test- 
ament phrase  of  the  last  days.  (See  Joel  ii.  iii.  for  the  whole  prophecy  ;  and  Joel  ii. 
28,  for  the  text.) 

The  end  of  days  then,  I  conceive,  when  not  used  in  its  primary  sense  of  any  time  yet 
future,  denotes  the  end  of  the  present  order  of  things,  the  end  of  the  reign  of  the  two 
little  apostate  horns,  the  end  of  the  tyranny  of  Antichrist  ;  in  short,  the  wiiole  time  of 
the  end  as  the  great  day  of  the  Lord's  controversy  is  styled  by  Daniel,  and  the  ivhols 
period  of  the  Millennium.      (See  Hosea  iii.  5.) 

Instead  of  this  phrase,  Ezekiel,  in  a  single  instance,  uses  another  ;  which  is  pre- 
I  cisely  equivalent  to  it.  Speaking  of  the  attack,  which  should  be  made  by  Gog  and 
i  Magog  upon  the  Jews,  now  restored  to  their  own  country,  he  indifferently  predicts, 
I  that  it  should  take  place  at  the  end  of  years,  and  at  the  end  of  days.  (See  Ezek.  xxxviii. 
(  8,  16.)  Now  St.  John  specially  informs  us,  that  this  invasion  of  Gog  and  Magog  shall 
I  not  be  //■//  the  end  of  the  Millennium  ;  and  Ezekiel,  in  perfect  harmony  with  him,  as- 
j  serts,  that  it  shall  be  directed  against  the  Jews  a  considerable  time  after  their  return, 
i  when  dwelling  in  Palestine  in  unsuspecting  security.  (See  Rev.  xx.  7,  8.  and  Ezek. 
j  xxxviii.  8,  11,  12,  14.)  Since  then  the  expedition  of  Antichrist  and  the  expedition  of  Gog 
I   and  Magog  arc  both  to  take  place  at  the  end  rf  days,  and  since  the  one  expedition  is  to  be 

at  the  beginning  of  the  Millennium  and  the  other  at  the  end  of  it,  it  is  evident  that  the  end 
ef  days  Or  the  end  of  years  reaches  from  the  termination  of  the  1260  years  to  the  termination 
ef  the  Millennium. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  Daniel  informs  Nebuchadnezzar,  that  "  God  maketh 
known  to  him  what  shall  be  in  th:  latter  J~iys,  or  at  the  end  of  days"  it  is  manifest,  that 


80 

In  the  New  Testament^  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  a 
real  difference  between  the  two  phrases  of  the  latier 
datjs,  and  the  last  daifs ;  a  difference,  carefully  observed 
by  the  inspired  writers,  and  with  much  judiciousness  as 
carefully  attended  to  by  our  translators.  The  latter 
times  is  the  strict  literal  translation  of  u^lfpoi  y.ccipoi ;  and  the 
last  daijs  is  the  strict  literal  translation  of  i.(j%uia.i  v^\h^a,i  : 
the  one  phrase  is  comparative,  and  the  other  is  superla- 
tive :  and  these  two  phrases  are  never  confounded  to- 
gether. 

Whenever  the  phrase  of  the  last  days  is  used  declar- 
ntivehf^  and  wot propheticalli/,  by  the  evangelical  writers, 
\l  uiQ^n^  the  zvliole  period  of  tlie  Christian  dispensation^ 
as  contradistinguished  from  the  former  days  of  the  Pa- 
triarchal and  Levitical  dispensations.  In  this  sense  it  is 
applied  by  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews. 
*'  God,  who  at  sundry  times  and  in  diverse  manners 
spake  in  time  past  unto  the  fathers  by  the  prophets,  hath 
in  these  last  days  spoken  unto  us  by  his  Son.*  It  is 
used  in  a  similar  manner  by  St.  Peter.  "  Christ  verily 
was  fore-ordained  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  but 
was  manifest  in  these  last  times  for  you."-]'  It  is  used 
also  in  the  same  manner  by  St.  John.  "  Little  children, 
it  is  the  last  time  :  and,  as  ye  have  heard  that  the  An- 
tichrist shall  come,  even  now  are  there  many  antichrists  ; 
whereby  we  know,  that  it  is  the  last  time."^ 

But,  whenever  the  phrases  of  the  latter  days,  and  the 
last  days,  are  used  prophetically ,  and  not  declarativcly^ 
by  the  evangelical  writers,  they  never  mean  the  whole 
period  of  the  Christian  dispensation,  but  always  two  dis- 
tinct and  successive  parts  of  that  dispensation.     Here  I 

futurity  in  rreneral,  not  the  Millennium  in  particular,  is  there  intended  by  the  expression : 
because  the  king's  dream  reaches  from  his  oiun  reign  to  the  very  commencement  of  the 
iingJom  of  the  maunlaiii.  (Dan.  ii.  28,  29.)  Such  also,  as  Bp.  Newton  justly  remarks, 
is  the  meaning  of  the  phrase  in  Gen.  xlix.  1.  Numb.  xxiv.  14.  and  Deut.  xxxi.  29. 
(.See  Dissert,  iv.)  Such  likewise  is  its  meaning  in  Dan.  x.  14.  The  context  indeed, 
as  in  tlie  present  cases,  will  usually  shew,  with  abundantly  sufficient  clearness,  ivhicb 
of  these  t-wo  significations  the  Hebrew  phrase  of  the  end  of  days  ought  to  bear  in  the  dif- 
ferent passages,  wherein  it  occurs. 

*  Heb.  i.  1,  2.  f   I   Peter  i.  20. 

I  1  John  IJ.  18.  Tlie  phrase  o?  the  latter  times  or  days,  is  never  used  in  the  Nevr 
Testament,  like  the  phrase  of  thi  last  ti/nes  or  days,  in  the  sense  of  tht  ivhole  period  of 
ibe  Christian  dispensation. 


81 

am  compelled  entirely  to  differ  from  Bp.  Newton  and 
Mr.  Mede.  Both  these  eminent  expositors  suppose, 
that  the  two  phrases  are  sifnonijmous^  and  equally  mean 
the  latter  times  of  the  last  times,  which  are  the  times  of 
the  little  horn  ;  who  should  arise  during  the  latter  part 
of  the  last  of  the  Jour  kingdoms,  and  should  be  destroyed 
together  with  it,  after  having  continued  «  time,  and  times, 
and  half  a  time  ;"*  whereas  I  am  persuaded,  that  in 
the  New  Testament  they  are  not  synonymous,  but  that 
they  relate  to  tii;o  entirely  different  perioda,  which  are 
vever  confounded  together  by  any  of  the  apostolical 
prophets. 

The  whole  duration  of  the  times  of  Christianity  under 
the  reign  of  the  stone,  exclusive  of  the  Millennium  or 
the  reign  of  the  mountain,  is  considered  in  the  evangeli- 
cal predictions  as  divided  into  three  periods. 

1.  The  first  \%  that  of  primitive  Christianity  ;  which 
was  not  to  expire  till  the  commencement  of  the  great 
Aposiacy,  although  the  divine  truths  of  the  Gospel  would 
be  gradually  corrupted  during  its  continuance.  Its  his- 
tory, as  connected  with  that  of  the  Roman  empire,  is 
detailed  under  the  six  first   apocalyptic  seals,  and  the 

four  first  apocalijptic  trumpets. 

2.  The  second  is  that  of  the  great  Apostacy,  during 
its  fiourishing  state.  The  history  of  this  period  is  detail- 
ed under  the  tico first  n'oe-trumpets  :  but  the  Apostacy 
itself '^'xW  not  be  completely  overthrown  till  towards  the 
end  of  the  third  woe-trumpet. 

?j.  The  third  is  that  of  the  reign  of  Antichrist,  whose 
distinguishing  badge  should  be  a  denial  both  of  the  Father 
and  the  Son.  This  power  was  not  to  be  revealed  till 
some  time  after  the  Apostacy  had  commenced  :  and  was 
to  be  contemporary  with  it  during  the  latter  part  of  its 
existence,  during  its  allegorical  old  age.  The  history  of 
this  third  period,  which  comprehends  both  the  reign  of 
Antichrist  and  th'=  decline  and  fall  of  t lie  contemporari/ 
Apostacy,  is  detailed  under  the  third  woe-trumpet  and  its 
seven  vials. 

The  second  and  third  of  these  periods,  the  history  of 

"   Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  xxiii.  3. 
VOL.   I.  1  1 


82 

which  constitutes  the  three  apocalyptic  woes,*  make  up 
jointly  the  grand  period  of  1260  years.  The  Apostacy 
2V,5'e// continues  to  tyrannize  the  whole  length  of  the  1260 
years  :  but  the  reign  ojf  Antichrist  is  contemporary  with 
the  Apostacy  only  during  a  certain  space  at  the  last  end 
of  those  years  ;  and  this  space,  we  are  informed,  will  be 
short,  compared  with  the  entire  duration  of  the  1260 
years^  or  the  42  prophetic  months.'\ 

The  second  then  of  these  three  periods,  comprehend- 
ing the  rise  and  Jlonrishing  state  of  the  Apostacij,  is  term- 
ed by  the  prophets  of  the  New  Testament  the  latter  times 
or  daijs  ;  as  being  latter,  when  compared  to  the  days  of 
priniitiie  Christianity  or  the  first  period. 

And  the  third  of  the  three  periods,  or  the  peculiar 
reign  of  the  atheistical  Antichrist,  is  distinguished  by  the 
appellation  di  the  last  times  or  days ;  as  being  last,  when 
compared  to  the  days  of  primitive  Christianity,  and  to 
the  latter  days  of  the  first  and  second  woe-trumpets  or  the 
peculiar  reign  of  apostate  superstition. 

Accordingly,  we  shall  invariably  find,  that  every  apos- 
tolical prediction,  relative  to  the  latter  days,  speaks  of 
certain  superstitious  practices  introduced  by  the  little 
horn  of  the  fourth  beast  during  the  fiourishing  period  of 
the  Apostacy  ;  but  never  alludes  to  Atheism,  and  the 
monstrous  brood  of  vices  engendered  by  it :  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  evenj  apostolical  prediction,  relative  to 
the  last  days,  speaks  of  Atheism  and  its  kindred  sins  ;  but 
never  alludes  to  tJie  superstitious  practices  afthe  Apostacy. 

Prophecies  relative  to  the  latter  days,  or  the  superstitions 
of  the  Apostacy. 

"  Now  the  Spirit  speaketh  expressly,  that  in  the  latter 
times  some  shall  depart^  from  the  faith,  giving  heed  to 
seducing  spirits,  and  doctrines  of  devils  ;§  through  the 

'^  Rev.  viii.  13.  f  Rev.  lii.  12. 

I  Gr.  a-rcc-'imovlai,  shall  apostatize.  It  is  the  Very  same  mode  of  expression  as 
that  used  by  St.  Pr.ul,  when  he  is  predicting  the  falling  a-nay  or  apostacy,  (Gr. 
«T9o-7ao-ia)  which  was  to  take  place  from  primitive   Christianity.    2  Thess.  ii.  3. 

§  Or,  more  properly,  demons  or  mediating  spirits.  As  Bp.  Ne^vton  justly  remarks, 
"  doctrines  of  demons.,  are  doctrines  about  and  concerning  demons.  This  is  therefore  a  pro- 
phecy, that  the  idolatrous  theology  of  demons,  professed  by  the  gentiles,  should  be 
revived  among  Christians— Demons,  according  to  the  theology  of  the  gentiles,  were 


83 

hypocrisy  of  liars,  having  their  consciences  seared  with  a 
hot  iron,  forbidding  to  marry,  and  commanding  to  ab- 
stain from  meats,  which  God  hath  created  to  be  received 
with  thanksgiving  of  them  which  believe  and  know  the 
truth — defuse  profane  and  old  wives'  fables  ;  and  exer- 
cise thyself  rather  unto  godliness  :  for  bodily  exercise 
profiteth  little/'* 

"  The  time  will  come,  when  they  will  not  endure 
sound  doctrine  ;  but  after  their  own  lusts  shall  they  heap 
to  themselves  teachers,  having  itching  ears  ;  and  they 
shall  turn  away  their  ears  from  the  truth,  and  shall  be 
turned  unto  fables/'f 

"  And  the  rest  of  the  men,  which  were  not  killed  by 
these  plagues,"  (namely  those,  which  took  place  under 
the  first  and  second  ivoe-trumpets,  and  consequently  dur- 
ing the  period,  which,  as  I  conceive,  the  apostolical 
prophets  denominate  the  hitter  daijs)  "  yet  repented  not 
of  the  works  of  their  hands,  that  they  should  not  wor- 
ship devils, :{:  and  idols  of  gold,  and  silver,  and  brass,  and 
stone,  and  of  wood  :  which  neither  can  see,  nor  hear, 
nor  walk  :  neither  repented  they  of  their  murders,  nor 
of  their  sorceries,  nor  of  their  fornication,  nor  of  their 
thefts."§ 

Let  no  man  beguile  you  of  your  reward,  in  a  volim- 
tary  humility  and  worshipping  of  angels,  intruding  into 
those  things  which  he  hath  not  seen,  vainly  piitfed  up  by 
his  fleshly  mind,  and  not  holding  the  head — Winch 
things  have  indeed  a  shew  of  wisdom  in  will- worship, 
and  humility,  and  disciplining  of  the  body  ;  not  in  any 
honour  to  the  satisfying  of  the  flesh. "j| 

middle  powers  between  the  sovran  gods  and  mortal  men— These  demons  were  re- 
garded as  mediators  and  agents  between  the  gods  and  men — Of  these  demons  there 
were  accounted  two  kinds.  One  kind  of  demons  were  tlie  souls  of  men,  deified  or 
canonized  after  death — The  other  kind  of  demons  were  such  as  had  never  been 
the  souls  of  men,  nor  ever  dwelt  in  mortal  bodies  The  latter  demons  may  be  parallel- 
ed with  angels,  as  the  former  may  with  canonized  saints."  Dissert,  xxiii.  2. 
•   1  Tim.  iv.  1.  I  2  Tim.  iv.  3. 

\  That  IS,  demons  or  mediating  spirits,  as  before.  St.  John  uses  the  very  same  word 
«ai(tc5via  or  demons,  that  St.  Paul  does.     (1  Tim.  iv.  1.) 

§  Rev.  ix.  20. 

Ij  Coloss.  ii.  18,  19,  23.  The  express  phrase  of  latter  times  or  days  only  occurs  in 
ene  of  tliese  prophecies ;  but  the  purport  of  the  rest,  relating  as  they  all  do  to  the 
very  same  superstitious  practices  as  those  stigmatized  in  the  first,  s'ulBciently  shew- 
that  they  must  aU  be  referred  to  the  same  period,  whatever  that  period  may  be. 


84 


Prophecies  relative  to  the  last  days,  or  the  atheism  of 

Antichrist. 

"  This  know  also,  that  in  the  last  days  perilous  times 
shall  come.  For  men  shall  be  lovers  of  their  own  selves, 
covetous,  boasters,  proud,  blasphemers,  disobedient  to 
parents,  unthankful,  unholy,  without  natural  affection, 
truce-breakers,  false  accusers,  incontinent,  fierce,  despis- 
ers  of  those  that  are  good,  traitors,  heady,  high-minded, 
lovers  of  pleasures  more  than  lovers  of  God  ;  having  a 
form  of  godliness,  but  denying  the  power  thereof:  from 
such  turn  away.  Of  this  sort  are  they,  which  creep  into 
houses,  and  lead  captive  silly  women,  laden  with  sins, 
led  away  with  divers  lusts,  ever  learning,  and  never  able 
to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  Now,  as  Jannes 
and  Jambres  withstood  Moses,  so  do  these  also  resist  the 
truth  ;  men  of  corrupt  minds,  reprobate  concerning  the 
faith.  But  they  shall  proceed  no  further;  for  their  folly 
shall  be  manifest  unto  all  men,  as  theirs  also  was."* 

"  Knowing  this  first,  that  there  shall  come  in  the  last 
days  scoffers,  walking  after  their  own  lusts,  and  saying, 
Where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming  ;  for,  since  the  fa- 
thers fell  asleep,  all  tilings  continue  as  they  were  from  the 
beginning  of  the  creation.  For  this  they  willingly  are 
ignorant  of,  that  by  the  word  of  God  the  heavens  were 
of  old,  and  the  earth  standing  out  of  the  water  and  in 
the  water  ;  whereby  the  world  that  then  was,  being  over- 
flowed with  water,  perished. -I* 

"  But  there  were  false  prophets  among  the  people^ 
even  as  there  shall  be  false  teachers  among  you,  who 
privily  shall  bring  in  damnable  heresies,  even  denying 
the  Lord  that  bought  them,  and  bring  upon  themselves 
swift  destruction.  And  many  shall  follow  their  perni- 
cious ways  ;  by  reason  of  whom  the  way  of  truth  shall 
be  evil  spoken  of.  And  through  covetousness  shall  they 
with  feigned  words  make  merchandise  of  you  :  whose 
judgment  now  of  a  long   time  lingereth  not,  and  their 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  in  a  Popish  tract  republished  so  late  as  the  year 
1798,  the  editor  defends  the  worship  of  the  Virgin  Mary  on  the  very  ground  pre- 
dicted by  the  Apostle,  the  flea  of  humUlty  and  having  a  just  sense  0/  our  ovn  univorthl- 
ness.    See  Whitaker's  Comment,  on  Rev.  p,  315 — 318. 

^  2  Tim.  iii.  1.  f  2  Peter  iii.  3. 


85 

damnation  slumbereth  not — The  Lord  knowetb  how  to 
deliver  the  godly  out  of  temptations,  and  to  reserve  the 
unjust  unto  the  day  of  judgment  to  be  punished.  But 
chiefly  them  that  walk  after  the  flesh  in  the  lust  of  un- 
cleanness,  and  despise  government.  Presumptuous  are 
they,  self-willed,  they  are  not  afraid  to  speak  evil  of  dig- 
nities— These,  as  natural  brute  beasts,  made  to  be  taken 
and  destroyed,  speak  evil  of  the  things  that  they  under- 
.stand  not,  and  shall  utterly  perish  in  their  own  corrup- 
tion, and  receive  the  reward  of  unrighteousness,  as  they 
that  count  it  pleasure  to  riot  in  the  day  time.  Spots 
they  are,  and  blemishes,  sporting  themselves  with  their 
own  deceivings  while  they  feast  with  you.  Having  eyes 
full  of  adultery,  and  that  cannot  cease  from  sin  ;  beguil- 
ing unstable  souls  ;  an  heart  have  they  exercised  with 
covetous  practices  :  cursed  children — These  are  wells 
without  water,  clouds  that  are  carried  with  a  tempest  ; 
to  whom  the  mist  of  darkness  is  reserved  for  ever.  For, 
when  they  speak  great  swelling  words  of  vanity,  they  al- 
lure, through  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  through  much  wan- 
tonness, those  that  were  clean  escaped  from  them  who 
live  in  error.*  While  they  promise  them  liberty,  they 
themselves  are  the  servants  of  corruption  :  for,  of  whom 
a  man  is  overcome,  of  the  same  he  is  brought  in  bond- 
age. For,  if,  after  they  have  escaped  the  pollutions  of 
the  world  through  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  and  Sav- 
iour Jesus  Christ,  they  are  again  entangled  therein  and 
overcome,  the  latter  end  is  worse  with  them  than  the 
bf^ofinnins:.  For  it  had  been  better  for  them  not  to  have 
known  the  way  of  righteousness,  than,  after  they  have 
known  it,  to  turn  from  the  holy  commandment  delivered 
unto  them.  But  it  is  happened  unto  them  according  to 
the  true  proverb.  The  dog  is  turned  to  his  own  vomit 
again,  and  the  sow  that  w'as  washed  to  her  wallowing  in 
the  mire.^'t 

''  There  are  certain  men  crept  in  unawares,  who  were 
before  of  old  ordained  to  this  condemnation,  ungodly 

*  The  error,  here  spoken  of,  is  tie  Apostacy  of  the  latter  dayu  Many,  who  had  sees 
and  rejected  its  absurdities,  were  notwithstandinj  to  be  deceived  by  the  wiles  of 
Infidelity. 

•j-  2  Petei  ii. 


86 

men,  turning  the  grace  of  our  God  into  lasciviousness, 
and  denying  the  only  Lord  God,  and  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  I  will  therefore"  (namely  with  a  view  to  ac- 
count for  this  spirit  of  infidelity)  "  put  you  in  remem- 
brance, though  ye  once  knew  this,  how  that  the  Lord, 
having  saved  the  people  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  after- 
ward destroyed  tiiem  that  believed  not.  These  filthy 
dreamers  defile  the  flesh,  despise  dominion,  and  speak 
evil  of  dignities.  These  speak  evil  of  those  things  which 
they  know  not :  but  what  they  know  naturally,  as  brute 
beasts,  in  those  things  they  corrupt  themselves.  Woe 
unto  them  !  for  they  have  gone  in  the  way  of  Cain,  and 
ran  greedily  after  the  error  of  Balaam  for  reward,  and 
perished  in  the  gainsaying  of  Core.  These  are  spots 
in  your  feasts  of  charity,  when  they  feast  with  you,  feed- 
ing themselves  without  fear  ;  clouds  they  are  without 
water,  carried  about  of  winds  ;  trees  whose  frtiit  wither- 
eth,  without  fruit,  twice  dead,  plucked  up  by  the  roots  ; 
raging  waves  of  the  sea,  foaming  out  their  own  shame  ; 
wandering  stars,  to  whom  is  reserved  the  blackness  of 
darkness  for  ever.  And  Enoch  also,  the  seventh  from 
Adam,  prophesied  of  these,  saying,  Behold,  the  Lord 
Cometh  with  ten  thousand  of  his  saints,  to  execute  judg- 
ment upon  all,  and  to  convince  all  that  are  ungodly 
among  them  of  all  their  ungodly  deeds  which  they  have 
,  ungodly  committed,  and  of  all  their  hard  speeches  which 
ungodly  sinners  have  spoken  against  him.  These  are 
murmurers,  complainers,  walking  aft^r  their  own  lusts; 
and  their  mouth  speaketh  great  swelling  words,  having 
men's  persons  in  admiration  because  of  advantage.  But 
beloved,  remember  ye  the  words  which  were  spoken  be- 
fore of  the  Apostles  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ;  how  that 
they  twld  you  there  should  be  mockers  in  the  last  t'lme^ 
who  should  walk  after  their  own  ungodly  lusts.  These 
be  they  who  separate  themselves,  sensual,  having  not  the 
Spirit."* 

"  As  ye  have  heard  that  the  Antichrist  shall  come,  even 
now  are  there  many  Antichrists — Who  is  the  liar,  but  he 
that  denieth  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ  \  This  is  the  Anti- 
christ, that  denieth  the  Father  and  the  Son. — Every  spirit, 

'"   Jude  4—]  p. 


87 

that  confesseth  n.otthat  Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh, 
is  not  of  God  :  and  this  is  that  spirit  of  the  Antichrist, 
whereof  ye  have  heard  that  it  should  come,  and  even 
now  already  is  it  in  the  world."* 


Let  any  one  attentively  compare  together  the  two  pre- 
ceding sets  of  prophecies  relative  to  the  latter  daijs^  and 
the  last  days,  and  he  will  be  convinced,  that  they  cannot 
both  relate  to  the  same  persons  ;  and  consequently  that 
the  latter  days  and  the  last  daifs  must  be  two  entirely  dis- 
tinct periods  of  time.  All  the  prophecies,  as  1  have  already 
observed,  that  relate  to  the  latter  daijs,  speak  of  «  great 
prevalence  of  superstition,  as  being  the  distinguishing 
feature  of  this  period  ;  while  all  the  prophecies,  that  re- 
late to  the  last  days,  speak  of  a  great  prevalence  of  blas- 
phemous infidelity,  as  being  equally  the  distinguishing 
feature  o^  that  period.  In  the  account  indeed  which  St. 
John  gives  of  the  principles  of  Antichrist,  he  uses  the 
last  time  in  the  sense  of  the  lohole  period  of  the  Christ- 
ian dispensation,  because  he  uses  it  declaratively  ;  but 
the  reason  of  this  will  sufficiently  appear,  if  we  consider 
the  import  of  the  passage  in  which  he  describes  the 
character  of  that  great  opponent  of  theMessiah. 

Dr.  Whitby  supposes,  that  the  Jezcs,  who  rejected  the 
promised  Saviour,  are  meant  by  Antichrist.  Others  have 
applied  the  character  to  Cerinthus  and  the  Munichhans  ; 
and  others,  to  the  impostor  Barchochebas.\  From  the 
language  however  of  St.  John,  who  is  the  only  inspired 
writer  that  uses  the  term,  I  am  much  inclined  to  think, 
thatAutichrist,  strictly  speaking,  is  a  sort  of  generic  name, 
including  all  persons  who  answer  to  the  description  given 
of  that  character.  Now  the  special  badge  assigned  to 
the  character  is  a  denial  of  the  Fat  her  and  the  Son :  a 
denial  of  the  Son  positively,  a  denial  of  the  Father  either 
positively  or  by.  implication.  All  therefore,  who  answer 
to  this  description,  are  members  of  Antichrist.  The  ex- 
istence of  his  blasphemous  principles  is  commensurate 
with  the  x'hole  period  of  the  Christian  dispensation  :   but 

*  1  John  ii.  18.  22.    iv.  .'5.  f  See  Pol,  Synop.  in  loc. 


his  peculiar  reis;n^  his  open  dcvelopemenf^  is  confined  to 
the  last  days  ot  the  last  time.  St.  Joiui  tells  liis  ciisfMples, 
"  ye  have  heard  that  the  Antichrist  siiall  come."  This 
opini'Mi  that  has  ever  prevailed  in  the  Church  respecting 
the  manifestation  of  some  great  opponent  of  the  Messjah 
at  an  era  far  remote  from  the  days  of  the  Apostle,*  an 
opinion  founded  no  doubt  upon  the  prophecies  of  Daniel, 
he  by  no  means  controverts  :  he  warns  them  however  to 
be  upon  their  guard  ;  inasmuch  as  there  were  many  even 
then  in  the  world,  who  were  tainted  with  the  priwiples 
of  Antichrist,  namely  a  denial  of  the  Father  and  the  Son, 
The  harmony  of  the  apostolical  writers  upon  this  point  is 
very  remarkable.  St.  John  declares,  that  the  spirit  of 
Antichrist  or  Infidelitij  was  already,  even  in  his  days,  in 
the  world  ;  although  it  was  not  yet  revealed^  or  exhibited 
to  mankind  in  an  embodied  form.  Daniel  had  given  a 
description  of  the  monster  in  his  mature  state,  as  a  king 
ov  pozcer  xXvAt  magnified  himself  above  every  god  and 
spoke  marvellous  things  against  the  God  of  gods;  and 
St.  John  add>,  that  iiis  detestable  principles  were  already 
working,  and  would  continue  to  work  through  the  whole 
period  of  the  last  time.,  as  meaning  the  Christian  dispen^ 
sation,  though  they  would  not  be  developed  till  the  last 
daijs  of  the  last  time.  In  a  similar  manner,  both  St.  Peter 
and  St.  Jude  represent  persons  of  the  same  principles  as 
those  which  should  be  openly  avowed  and  acted  upon 
in  the  last  days.,  as  intruding  into  the  feasts  of  charity 
usual  among  the  primitive  Christians,  and  consequently 
as  contemporary  with  themselves. f  Events  have  amply 
shewn  the  accuracy  of  these  declarations.  The  opinions 
o(  Antichrist  were  secretly  lurking  in  the  Church  even 
in  the  earliest  ages  :  it  has  been  our  lot  to  behold  them 

*  "  The  idea,  which  the  early  Christians  in  general  formed  of  Antichrist,  was  that 
of  a  power  to  be  revealed  in  distant  times,  after  the  dissolution  of  the  Roman  empire ; 
of  a  power  to  arise  out  of  the  ruins  of  that  empire."  (Bp.  Hurd  on  Prophecy,  p.  221.) 
To  this  we  must  add  the  declaration  of  St.  John,  that  the  poiver  in  question  should 
deny  both  the  Father  and  the  Son  :  and  we  shall  then  perceive,  that  the  Antichrist, 
about  to  be  revealed  in  distant  times,  about  to  arise  out  of  the  ruins  of  the  old  Ro- 
man empire,  is  certainly  not  the  Papacy,  as  Bp.  Hurd  supposes,  but  a  tyrannicai  state 
of  a  very  different  nature.  The  Papacy  arose  out  of  the  ruins  of  the  Empire,  but 
it  never  denied  either  the  Father  or  the  Son.  Antichrist  is  likewise  to  arise  out  of 
the  ruins  of  the  Empire,  and  is  to  be  knov/n  by  his  denial  both  of  the  Father  and 
the  Son. 

t  See  the  preceding  citations. 


89 

embraced  zvithoitt  disguise  by  a  whole  nation.  "  The 
beginning  of  the  monster  was  in  the  apostolic  age  :  for  it 
were  easy  to  trace  the  pedigree  of  French  philosophy, 
Jacobinism,  and  Bavarian  illumination,  up  to  the  first 
heresies.     But  it  is  now  we  see  his  adolescence."* 

As  for  the  papacij^  it  answers  in  no  particular  to  the 
character  o^  Antichrist  as  delineated  by  St.  John.f     The 

*  Bp.  Horsley's  Letter  on  Isaiah  xviii. — See  this  matter  shewn  at  large  in  the 
Abbe  Barruel's  Mem.  of  Jacobinism. 

f  The  title  of  Aniichrist  has  usually  been  applied  to  the  Pope  by  protestant  expos- 
itors, and  by  the  Waldenses  and  Albigenses  before  the  era  of  the  Reformation  :  but 
I  cannot  find,  that  they  have  any  warrant  from  Scripture  for  so  doing.  The  cor- 
ruptions of  the  Papacy  are  largely  indeed  predicted  under  the  name  of  an  Apostacy  ; 
which  was  to  consist  partly  in  the  superstitious  will-worship  of  Saints,  partly  in  the 
persecution  of  the  pious,  and  partly  in  the  exercise  of  a  catholic  tyranny  over  the 
Church  :  and  the  Papacy  itself  is  described  under  the  symbols  of  a  little  horn,  a  harlot, 
and  a  tivo-horned  beast :  but  the  Pope  is  no  where,  that  I  have  been  able  to  discover, 
termed  Antichrist ;  for  he  never  denied  either  the  Father  or  the  Son.  The  identity 
of  Antichrist  and  the  little  horn  has  been  rather  assumed,  than  proved. 

Since  this  was  written,  my  opinion  that  the  Pope  cannot  hi  the  Antichrist  described 
by  St.  John  has  been  strenuously  though  (I  think)  very  unsuccessfully  opposed  by 
Mr.  Whitaker.  As  my  sincere  desire  is  that  the  point  may  be  thoroughly  discussed, 
I  shall  subjoin  the  substance  of  my  answer  to  him. 

The  statement  of  the  whole  question  is  simply  this.  St.  John  assures  his  dis- 
ciples, that,  at  the  very  moment  when  he  was  writing,  there  were  many  antichrists 
already  in  the  world  :  and  he  afterwards  speaks  singularly  of  one  Antichrist,  whom  by 
way  of  eminence  he  styles  the  liar,  and  whose  leading  characteristic  should  be  a  denial 
cij  the  Father  and  the  Son.  Here  then  we  have  many  Antichrists  and  the  Antichrist  : 
and  the  former  are  declared  to  be  contemporary  with  the  Apostle.  Now  we  know, 
that,  when  St.  John  lived,  there  was  not  in  existence  any  embodied  poiver,  either  the 
papal  or  any  other  power,  that  could  in  its  corporate  capacity  be  styled  the  Anti- 
christ. Hence  we  may  conclude,  that  his  contemporaries,  the  many  antichrists,  were 
detached  individuals  professing  some  characteristic  opinion  which  was  the  cause  of 
their  being  so  named  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  Antichrist  is  no  individual, 
but  a  collective  body  of  individuals.  The  question  then  is,  What  ivas  the  opinion  of 
the  many  antichrists  ?  Was  it  the  same,  or  was  it  not  the  same,  as  that  of  the  Anti- 
christ, according  to  St.  John's  description  of  it .'  Does  the  Apostle  give  us  any  clue  to 
ascertain  this  point  ^  He  explicitly  declares,  as  if  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  error, 
that  "  every  spirit,  which  confesseth  not  that  Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh,  is  not 
of  God  :  and  this  is  that  very  essence  or  spirit  of  the  Antichrist,  which  ye  have  heard 
shall  come,  and  indeed  even  now  is  in  the  world."  Thus  it  is  plain  that  what  St. 
John  calls  the  spirit  of  the  Antichrist,  is  a  denial  that  fesus  Christ  is  the  promised  Messiah 
manifested  in  the  flesh.  But,  if  this  spirit,  which  is  the  spirit  of  the  Antichrist,  were  in 
the  world  when  St.  John  wrote,  and  if  many  individual  antichrists,  were  likewise  in 
the  world  at  the  same  time  ;  I  know  not  M'hat  we  can  conclude  but  that  these 
individual  antichrists  were  men  animated  by  the  spirit  of  the  Antichrist  or  the  liar, 
which  we  are  unequivocally  told  is  a  denial  of  the  Son,  and  thence  by  implication 
a  denial  of  the  Father  also.  Accordingly  St.  Paul,  St.  Peter,  and  St.  Jude,  all  concur 
in  asserting,  that  men,  possessed  by  such  a  spirit  as  St.  John  calls  the  spirit  of  the 
Antichrist,  even  the  very  spirit  which  we  have  seen  embodied  in  these  last  days, 
had  at  that  early  period  insinuated  themselves  into  the  Church.  How  then  can 
any  thing  that  St.  John  here  says  prove  the  Pope  to  be  the  Antichrist,  namely  the 
Antichrist  ivhoie  spirit  -was  then  in  the  tuoild  F  All  that  the  Apostle  teaches  his  disci- 
ples is,  that,  since  the  delusive  spirit  of  the  Antichrist  was  already  working,  they  might 
be  sure  that  they  were  living  in  the  last  time  ov  under  the  last  dispensation,  and 
VOL.  I.  12 


90 

superstition  oi  thai  great  apostacy  is  indeed  to  continue 
to  the  very  end  of  the  1260  days,  and  is  therefore  to  be 
contemporary  during  the  latter  period  of  its  existence 
\\  ith  the  reign  oj^  Antichrist  :  but  the  domination  of  that 
injidel  tyrant  is  so  strongly  marked  by  atheism,  insubor- 

need  not  look  for  any  further  dhpensatiov.  As  yet  however,  although  there  were 
many  iudimdual  antichrists  in  the  world,  the  great  Antichrist  himself,  whose  special  badge 
should  be  a  denial  of  the  Father  and  the  Son,  Was  not  manifested.  His  spirit  indeed 
was  already  working  in  the  children  of  disobedience,  but  he  himself  -was  not  as  yet 
revealed  :  nor  does  the  Apostle  give  us  the  slightest  intimation,  that  his  appearance 
would  be  connected  either  with  the  taking  away  of  that  which  prevented  the  de- 
\<doY>oment  oi  the  papal  man  of  sin,  or  with  the  commencement  of /;6£?  \  260  years. 
On  the  contrary,  wherever  he  mentions  the  Antichrist,  he  studiously  and  almost 
anxiously  tells  us,  that  his  badge  is  a  denial  of  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Mr.  Whitaker  however  argues,  that,  since  I  allow  the  man  of  sin  to  be  the  Pope  ; 
since  //"■  man  of  sin  is  Said  to  oppose  and  exalt  himself  above  every  one  that  is  called 
god  or  that  is  worshipped  ;  and  since  the  word,  which  St.  Paul  uses  to  express  this 
opposition,  is  anticimenus  :  therefore,  because  the  man  of  sin  is  anticimenus.  Or  one  that 
ofposeth  himself  a.ga.\nst  all  that  is  called  god,  he  must  be  antichrisfus.  This  whole 
argument  is  founded  on  a  misconception  of  the  text.  The  gods,  xh^t  the  man  of  sin 
was  to  oppose,  were  ?nere  earthly  gods  ;  in  Other  words,  kings  and  emperors.'  He  was 
to  oppose  himself  to  every  one  that  Is  called  god,  and  to  every  thing  august  and 
venerable  ;  to  every  seuisma,  in  allusion  to  seiastus  or  augustus  the  title  of  the  Roman 
emperors.  (See  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  the  man  of  sin.)  Hence  it  is  plain,  that 
an  opposition  of  this  nature  will  not  constitute  the  Pope  Antichrist.  Impiously  as 
the  Bishops  of  Rome  have  sat  in  the  temple  of  God,  shewing  themselves  that  they 
are  God,  this  has  been  done  rather  in  conjunction  with  God,  than  in  opposition  to 
him.  In  the  height  of  their  profane  madness  they  never  thought  of  denying  either 
the  Father,  or  the  Son  ;  but  rather  afFected  to  act  by  their  commission  and  un- 
der their  authority,  considering  themselves  as  a  sort  of  God  upon  earth  and 
claiming  to  be  the  sole  vicars  of  Christ.  In  short,  the  prophecy  respecting  the  man 
of  sin  has  been  exactly  accomplished  in  the  Popes  .•  but  St.  John's  definition  of  the 
liar  or  the  Antichrist,  whose  spirit  was  even  then  in  the  world,  is  by  no  means  ap- 
plicable to  the  Popes ;  because  their  characteristic  mark  as  a  body  was  not  a  denial 
cither  of  the  Father  or  of  the  Son. 

If  indeed  we  chose  arbitrarily  to  annex  some  other  idea  to  the  word  Antichrist 
than  St.  John  has  taught  us  to  annex  to  It,  I  have  no  objection  in  this  sense  to  say 
that  the  Pope  is  an  antichrist,  because  he  has  ever  shewn  himself  a  most  notorious 
enemy  to  the  pure  religion  of  the  Gospel :  so  likewise  has  Mohammed,  who  comes 
much  nearer  to  the  character  of  St.  John's  Antichrist  than  the  Pope,  though  even  be 
never  denied  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus  Christ.  But,  so  long  as  I  acknowledge  the 
authority  of  the  epistles  of  St.  John,  1  must  peremptorily  deny  that  the  Pope  is  the 
Antichrist :  both  becau  ie  I  am  plainly  taught,  that  the  spirit  ot  that  liar  was  working 
even  In  the  apostolical  age,  which  the  spirit  of  the  Papacy  was  not ;  and  because  I 
am  no  less  plainly  taught,  that,  whenever  the  monster  should  be  pubhcly  revealed, 
he  should  be  known  by  his  denial  of  the  Father  and  the  Son. 

Dr.  Doddridge  attempts  to  explain  away  this  natural  objection  to  the  application 
of  the  character  of  Antichrist  to  the  Pope  ;  but  in  a  manner,  that  to  myself  at  least 
appears  nothing  better  than  a  mere  quibble.  He  says,  that  "  Popery  is  an  usurpa- 
tion entirely  inconsistent  with  a  due  homage  to  Christ,"  and  therefore  that  the 
Papacy  is  Antichrist.  But  what  has  this  to  do  with  an  express  denial  of  Christ .'  It 
is  surely  a  most  unsatisfactory  answer  to  those,  who  as  he  himself  observes  "  have 
argued,  that  the  Pope  cannot  be  Antichrist,  because  he  confesses  Christ,  and  that  it 
must  necessarily  be  some  entirely  opposing  person  or  sect,  and  which  does  not  bear 
the  christian  name."  (Paraph.  I.  John  iv.  S.)  As  little  satiifactory  to  me  is  Pyle's 
gloss.     (Preface  to  1  John.) 


91 

dination^  and  a  total  icant  of  all  the  hinder  affections  of 
our  nature ;  that,  for  a  season,  till  he  has  united  himself 
with  the  man  of  sin  the  domineering  head  oithe  aposiacij^ 
the  abominations  even  of  the  pupal  super'stition  are 
scarcely  visible  near  the  infernal  glare  of  avowed  Anti- 
christianitij. 

It  requires  some  degree  of  circumspection  clearly  to 
ascertain  the  meanings  of  the  phrase  of  the  end  or  the  time 
of  the  end,  ^\:i  or  1\>  riy,  so  frequently  used  by  Daniel. 
To  myself  it  certainly  appears  to  mean  the  iermination  of 
the  whole  1260  datjs  ;  the  conclusion  o^  the  or  eat  drama 
of  the  two-fold  apostacij  and  the  reign  of  Antichrist.  I 
conceive  the  time  of  the  end  to  commence,  so  soon  as 
the  12()0  days  expire;  and  to  extend  through  the  7o  years, 
which  intervene  between  the  end  of  the  1260  days,  and 
the  beginning  of  the  season  of  millennian  blessedness.  1 
believe  it  in  short  to  be  the  awful  period,  during  which 
the  judgments  of  God  will  go  abroad  through  all  the  earth, 
and  during  which  his  great  controversy  with  the  nations 
will  be  carried  on.* 

Before  I  attempt  to  shew  that  such  is  the  import  of 
the  phrase,  it  will  be  proper  for  me  to  observe,  that  a 
very  different  interpretation  of  it  has  been  given  by  Mr, 
Mede,  in  which  he  has  been  followed  by  Bp.  Newton. 
Instead  of  supposing  it  to  mean  the  termination  of  the 
1260  days^  he  conceives  it  to  denote  the  latter  daifs  of 
the  Roman  empire  or  the  whole  duration  of  the  \'i'60days.'\ 

^  The  time  of  the  end,  or  at  least  thefrst  portion  of  it  which  contains  30  years  (Dail. 
xii.  11>)  sj-nchronizes  with  the  last  apocalyptic  vial,  which  will  begin  to  be  poured  out 
so  soon  as  the  1 260  days  shall  have  expired. 

f  Yet  it  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  in  two  places  Bp.  Newton  understands  the 
phrase  precisely  as  I  do ;  namely  as  denoting  not  the  coatinuut'ce,  but  the  termination  of 
the  1260  years.  Commenting  upon  Dan.  xi.  35,  he  observes,  "  These  calamities  were 
to  befall  the  Christians  to  try  them,  and  purge,  and  make  them  white,  not  only  at 
that  time,  but  even  to  the  time  of  the  end,  because  it  is  yet  for  a  time  appointed  :  and 
we  see,  even  at  this  day,  not  to  aliedge  other  instances,  liow  the  poor  protest  ants  are 
persecuted,  plundered,  and  murdered,  in  the  southern  parts  of  France."  (Dissert. 
XVII.  in  loc.) 

To  the  same  purpose  is  his  comment  on  Daniel  xii.  9.  It  is  indeed  no  wonder 
that  we  cannot  fully  understand  and  explain  these  things ;  for,  as  the  angel  said  to 
Daniel  himself,  though  ?;/a«v  sJiould  run  to  and  fro,  and  should  inquire  and  examine 
into  these  things,  and  thereby  knoivledge  should  be  increased ;  yet  the  fuU  understanding 
of  them  is  reserved  for  the  time  of  the  end, //?>£  ivords  are  closed  up  and  sealed  till  tie 
time  of  the  end. — As  Prideaux  judiciously  observes,  it  is  the  nature  of  such  prophecies 
not  to  be  thoroughly  understood,  till  they  are  thoroughly  fulfilled.'"  (Dissert.. 
XVII,  \xi  loc.)     In  both  tteee  nassagejj,  unless  I  greatly  mistake  their  import,  Bf 


92 

In  support  of  this  opinion,  I  cannot  find  however,  that 
he  brings  forward  any  argument,  excepting  one  which  is 
built  upon  his  own  exposition  of  the  question  and  answer 
recorded  by  Daniel;  "  Until  how  long  shall  be  the  end 
of  the  wonders  I  It  shall  be  until  a  time  and  times  and  a 
half."*  Now  the  import  of  this  passage  Mr.  Mede  sup- 
poses to  be,  that  the  period  styled  t/ie  end  of  f he  zvonders, 
or  (as  he  translates  it)  the  latter  end  of  the  wonders,  shall 
be  in  length  three  times  and  a  half  or  1260  years. 
Whence  he  argues,  that,  since  such  is  to  be  the  length 
of  this  latter  end,  the  time  of  the  end  must  denote  the 
zvhole  period  oj^  the  1260  if  ears. -\ 

Were  such  an  exposition  of  the  passage  allowable,  it 
would  at  least  render  it  ambiguous  ;  for  we  should  not 
be  absolutely  obliged  to  concede,  that,  because  it  was 
allowable,  no  other  was  allowable :  but  it  appears  to  me 
to  be  by  no  means  allowable  ;  and  1  believe  that  our 
common  English  version  has  accurately  expressed  the 
sense  of  the  original,  although  it  doubtless  is  not  quite 
literal. 

If  we  consider  the  general  context  of  the  passage, 
Daniel  first  speaks  of  the  end  of  certain  wonders,  and 
immediately  afterwards  of  the  finishing  of  these  things. 
Now  these  things  plainly  appear  to  be  the  same  as  the 
loonders.  But  if  these  thimrs  be  the  same  as  the  -wonders 
(which  I  suppose  will  scarcely  be  denied) ;  it  seems 
most  natural  to  conclude  that  the  finishing  of  these  things 
is  the  same  as  the  end  of  the  wonders.  The  finishing  of 
these  things  however  is  plainly  the  absolute  termination 
of  them,  and  it  is  declared  moreover  to  be  contemporary 
with  the  restoration  of  the  Jews  :  the  end  of  the  leonders 
therefore  must  at  once  be  the  termination  of  the  wonders^ 

Newton  considers  the  tlmiofthe  end  as  being  yet  future,  and  as  commencing  so  soon 
as  the  men  of  understanding  Or  the  -witnestes  shall  have  ceased  to  prophesy  in  sackcloth, 
that  is  to  say,  at  the  end  of  tie  1 260  yean. 

*  Dan.  xii.  6,  7. 
f  Mede's  Works,  B.  iv.  Epist.  54.— B.  v.  Chap.  9.  Both  Mr.  Mede  and  Bp. 
Newton  make  a  very  important  use  of  the  sense  which  they  annex  to  the  phrase  of 
the  end  or  the  time  of  the  end.  They  suppose,  that  the  kings  of  the  south  and  the  north 
mentioned  by  Daniel  as  attacking  the  imlfil  ting,  are  the  Saracens  and  the  Turks. 
Now,  whatever  powers  tliese  kings  may  be,  their  wars  are  said  to  begin  at  the  time  of 
the  end.  But,  if  the  time  of  the  end  denote  the  expiration^  and  not  the  continuance,  of  the 
1260  years,  they  certainly  caaiiot  be  the  Saracens  and  the  Tuths.  This  subject  will 
be  resumed  hereafter. 


95 

and  must  synchronize  with  the  restoration  of  the  Jezos. 
Hence  the  end  of  the  nwnders  cannot  denote  the  ichole 
period  of  the  1260  ijears^  but  must  on  the  contrary  de- 
note the  termination  of  it ;  because  the  restoration  of  the 
Jews^  even  according  to  Mr.  Mede's  own  opinion,*  will 
synchronize  with  the  downfall  of  the  papal  Roman  empire, 
and  that  downfall  will  not  take  place  till  after  the  expir^ 
ation  o{  the  1260  ijears. 

Ihis  however  is  by  no  means  the  only  objection  to 
the  exposition  in  question.  Mr.  Mede  translates  the 
original  passage,  not  the  end  of  the  voonders^  but  the  latter 
end  of  the  loonders ;  evidently  with  a  view  to  excite  the 
idea,  that  of  a  certain  period  considered  by  Daniel  as  the 
period  of  wonders  (suppose  for  instance  the  whole  dura" 
tion  of  his  last  vision)  the  latter  portion  is  contradistin- 
guished from  the  former  portion,  and  that  this  latter 
portion  is  termed  by  way  of  distinction  the  latter  end  of 
the  Z€ondersm  opposition  io  the  frst  part  of  the  wonders. 
In  order  to  appreciate  the  solidity  of  this  exposition,  it 
will  be  necessary  to  descend  to  verbal  criticism.  Two 
words -j"  are  used  in  Hebrew  to  express  the  end^  Aarith 
and  Ketz  together  with  its  cognates  Ketzah  and  Miket- 
zath.  Now  the  former  of  these  denotes  either  the  con- 
tinuance of  a  period  or  the  termination  of  a  period^  for  it 
is  derived  from  a  root  which  signifies  after  ;  and  it  is  ob- 
vious, that  both  the  successive  parts  of  a  period  and  the 
absolute  termination  of  it  are  alike  after  its  commencement  : 
hence  the  Old  Testament  phrase  of  the  end  of  daijs^ 
which  1  last  considered,  denotes  either  futuritt/,  that  is 
a  succession  of  time  in  general,  or  the  end  of  the  present 
order  of  things  and  the  duration  of  the  Millennium  in  par- 
ticular. Whereas  the  latter,  unless  1  be  quite  mistaken, 
never  denotes  the  continuance  of  the  period  of  which  it 
speaks,  but  always  the  termination  of  it ;  for  it  is  derived 
from  a  verb  which  signifies  to  cut  off  or  to  cut  short  : 
whence  Buxtorf  with  much  propriety  observes,  that  it 
denotes  the  end^  "  quasi  prcecisum  dicas  ;  ubi  enim  res 

*  Mede's  Works,  B.  v.  Chap.  8. 

f  I  do  not  mean  to  say,  that  no  more  than  two  words  are  used  ;  but  that  these 
are  the  two  words  with  which  the  present  discussion  is  chiefly  concerned.  Daniel 
sometimes  uses  the  Chaldaic  Supha  instead  of  Keiz,  which  signifies  precisely  the  same. 


94 

praeciditur,  ibi  ejus  finis  est."  This  latter  word,  not  the 
former^  is  used  by  Daniel,  both  in  the  present  passage, 
and  in  every  other  passage  where  the  time  of  the  end  is 
spoken  of.*  The  end  of  the  zi'onders  therefore,  when  it 
is  considered  what  word  is  used  in  the  original  to  express 
the  end^  cannot,  as  it  appears  to  me,  denote  either  the 
whole  period  during  zchich  these  zaonders  were  transact- 
ing^ or  ilie  latter  part  of  that  period ;  but  must  on  the 
contrary  denote  the  absolute  cutting  off  or  termination  of 
the  period  of  the  ii:onders.-\ 

The  end  then,  or  the  time  of  the  end^  must,  agreeably 
to  the  import  of  the  original  word,  signify  the  termination 
of  some  period  ox  another  :  the  question  is,  what  period  I 
Daniel  informs  us,  the  period  of  the  icnnders  :  for,  since 
he  speaks  of  the  end  of  the  xvutidcrs^  the  end  can  only  mean 
the  termination  of  that  period  zchich  comprehends  the  zoon- 
ders.  Still  the  question  will  occur,  what  is  the  period  of 
the  KDonders  !  Is  it  the  whole  period  of  Daniel's  last  vis- 
ion^ or  is  it  the  particular  period  of  the  1260  ijears  /  This 
question  appears  to  me  not  very  difficult  to  be  answered. 
In  the  earlier  part  of  Daniel's  last  vision,  which  treats  of 
the  wars  between  the  kings  of  Syria  and  Egypt,  there  is 
nothing  that  peculiarly  deserves  the  name  of  a  za^onder. 
The  age  ofzconders^  on  which  both  Daniel  and  St.  John 
dwell  with  so  much  minuteness  and  astonishment, :|:  is 
undoubtedly  the  great  period  of  1260  years;  during 
which  the  world  was  destined  to  behold  the  wonderful 
sight  of  a  tii-o-fuld  apostacy  from  the  pure  religion  of  the 

*  Excepting  those  in  which  he  uses  Sufha. 

f  It  IS  observable,  that,  whenever  Daniel  uses  the  cognates  of  Ketz  to  mark  time, 
he  invariably  uses  them  in  the  sense  oi  the  termination  of  the  period  concerning  which 
they  speak,  never  in  the  sense  of  its  continuance  ;  a  sense  indeed  of  which  I  believe 
them  to  be  incapable  :  insomuch  that,  if  by  the  time  of  the  end  and  the  end  of  the  ivonders 
he  m.ea.r\s  either  the  irhole  or  a  part  of  the  period  of  those  ivonders,  he  entirely  departs 
from  the  sense  which  he  elsewhere  annexes  to  these  cognate  words.  (See  Dan.  i.  5, 
15,  18.  iv.  29.  See  also  Gen.  iv.  3.  margin,  trans.)  There  is  one  passage,  in  which 
Daniel  plainly  appears  to  me  to  use  the  words  Aarith  and  Ketz.  in  direct  opposition 
to  each  other.  "  I  will  make  thee  know  what  shall  be  in  the  latter  end  of  the  indig- 
nation ;  for  it  (the  vision)  shall  be  until  the  appointed  time  of  the  end."  Dan.  viii. 
1 9.)  Here  the  latter  end,  or  rather  the  continuance,  (Aarith)  of  the  indi<^nation,  denotes 
the  li'hofe  period  rf  the  tyranny  of  the  Le-^^oaf''s  little  horn,  or  in  Other  words  the  -whole pe- 
riod of  the  1260  years  ;  v.'hile  the  end  (Ket-z)  to  which  the  vision  is  to  reach,  denotes 
the  expiration  of  the  Y2.6Q  years  or  the  end  of  the  period  of  the  ivonders,  which  therefore 
synciironizes  with  the  expiration  of  the  CGOO  years,  to  which  the  vision  is  likewise  to 
reach.     Dan.  viii.  13,  14. 

:  See  Dan.  vii.  S.  15,  19—22,  2S.   viii.  9—14,  27.     Rev.  ;xi.  xii,  xiii,  xvii.  6,T. 


9a 

Gospel,  and  of  the  developement  of  a  monstrous  po\^j, 
that  set  the  Majesty  of  heaven  itself  at  defiance.  Hen^ 
the  period  of  the  zvonders  can  surely  be  only  the  periock. 
of  the  1260  years;  for  let  us  attentively  peruse  the\ 
writings  of  Daniel  and  St.  John,  and  see  whether  we  can 
discover  another  period  to  which  we  can  with  the  slight- 
est degree  of  propriety  apply  the  title  oi  the  period  of  the 
ivonders.  But  a  yet  more  positive  proof,  that  the  period 
of  the  1260  i/ears  is  the  period  of  the  wonders,  may  be 
deduced  from  the  very  passage,  which  Mr.  Mede  uses  to 
establish  his  own  exposition  by  assigning  to  the  word 
Ketz  a  sense  which  it  is  incapable  of  bearing. 

"  And  one  said  to  the  man  clothed  in  linen,  which  was 
upon  the  waters  of  the  river,  until  how  long  shall  be  the 
end  (that  is,  the  termination)  of  the  wonders  ?  And  I 
heard  the  man  clothed  in  linen,  which  was  upon  the 
waters  of  the  river,  when  he  held  up  his  right  hand  and 
his  left  harid  unto  heaven,  and  svvare  by  him  that  liveth 
for  ever,  that  it  shall  be  until  a  time  and  times  and  a  half; 
and,  when  he  shall  have  finished  to  scatter  the  power  of 
the  holv  people,  all  these  things  shall  be  finished.  And 
I  heard,  but  I  understood  not.  Then  said  I,  O  my  Lord, 
what  is  the  end  of  these  things  ?  And  he  said,  Go  thy 
way  Daniel  ;  for  the  words  are  closed  up  and  sealed  till 
the  time  of  the  end." 

A  question  is  here  asked,  how  long  a  time  shall  elapse 
before  the  en  I  of  the  period  ofzconders  arrives  \  The  an- 
swer is,  three  times  and  a  hafox  1260  years  :  and  it  is 
further  declared,  that,  when  the  Jeiss  shall  begin  to  be 
restored,  all  these  things,  namely  all  the  ivonders  which 
zcere  to  come  to  an  end  at  the  expiration  of  the  \  260  years, 
shall  be  finished.  Upon  this  Daniel  inquires,  what  is 
the  end  of  them  :  but  the  only  reply  given  him  is,  that 
the  words  are  sealed  till  the  time  of  the  end,  or  that  his 
prophecies  shall  not  be  fully  understood  till  the  end  of 
the  wonders  arrives. 

Now,  if  \260  ijears  are  to  elapse  before  the  end  of  the 
iconders  arrives,  and  if  all  these  things,  that  is  to  say  all 
the  wonders,  are  to  be  finished  contemporaneously  with 
the  restoration  of  the  Jews  ;  it  will  both  follow  that  the 
period  of  the  ivonders  must  exactly  comprehend    I960 


96 

jiftrs^  and  that  the  restoration  of  the  Jews  will  commence 
.t  the  explication  of  that  period.  In  other  words  it  will 
follow,  that  the  period  of  the  wonders  is  the  same  as  the 
period  of  the  1^260  i/ears ;  and  consequently  thai  the  end 
of  the  period  of  the  it'onders,  or  the  time  of  the  end,  de- 
notes the  termination,  not  the  continuance,  of  the  period 
of  the  \260  i/ears. 

This  will  yet  further  appear  from  comparing  together 
what  Daniel  says  relative  to  the  time  of  the  end  and  what 
he  says  relative  to  tlie  expiration  of  the  1260  years. 

\i  all  the  wonders  are  to  be  finished  at  the  close  of  the 
IQ60  i/ears,  and  if  they  are  likewise  to  be  finished  at  the 
time  of  the  end ;  it  is  manifest  that  the  time  of  the  end 
must  so  synchronize  with  the  expiration  of  the  12G0 
years,  that  it  must  commence  exactly  when  the  1260 
years  terminate. 

Accordingly  we  shall  find,  that  the  wonders,  which  are 
generally  declared  to  be  finished  at  the  close  of  the  1260 
years,  are  se-oeralhj  declared  to  be  likewise  finished  at 
this  very  time  of  the  end.  Thus  the  vision  of  the  ram  and 
the  he-goat,  which  comprehends  the  ii)onders  of  Moham^ 
medism  or  a  portion  of  the  wonders  of  the  1260  tjears,  is 
to  reach  unto  the  time  of  the  end.*  Thus  the  reformation 
from  the  great  apostacy,  or  the  prophesying  of  the  two 
witnesses,  is  to  continue  in  a  progressive  state  to  the  time 
of  the  end.-\  Thus  the  little  horn  is  to  have  the  saints 
given  into  his  hand  during  the  space  of  three  times  and  a 
half:  and,  although  his  dominion  is  to  begin  tobe  taken 
away  before  the  expiration  of  that  period,  even  at  the  era 
of  ^//<?  Reformation,  yet  it  will  not  be  completely  consumed 
till  the  end.%  Thus  the  ivar  of  the  atheistical  king  with 
the  kings  of  the  south  and  the  north,  \\\s  invasion  of  Pales- 
tine and  Egypt,  and  his  subsequent  destruction  between  the 
seas,  are  at  once  to  take  place  at  the  time  of  the  end,  and 
to  synchronize  with  the  restoration  of  the  Jezvs ;  which 
will  commence  at  the  expiration  of  the  1260  years,  or  at 
the  time  'when  all  the  zvoiiders  are  finished.  §  Thus  the 
prophecies  of  Daniel  are  to  be  sealed,  or,  in  other  words, 

*  Dan.  viii.  1 7.  f  Dan.  xi.  35.  \  Dan.  vii.  25,  ^C, 

§  Compare  Dan.  xi.  40—45.  with  xii.  1,  G — 9. 


97 

not  receive  their  full  accomplishment  so  as  to  be  com- 
pletely understood,  till  the  time  of  the  end*  i\nd  thus 
the  prophet  himself  is  commanded  to  wait  patiently  till 
the  end,  with  an  assurance  that  he  shall  stand  in  his  lot 
at  the  end  of  the  days.'\ 

In  absolute  strictness  of  speech  then,  the  end  is  the  very 
moment  when  the  1260  years  expire  :  but  Daniel  teaches 
us  to  extend  it  somewhat  more  widely.  He  styles  this 
ienninatiou  both  the  end  of  the  noiders  and  the  time  of 
the  end ;  by  which  it  appears  we  must  understand  the 
time  at  or  about  the  end  or  the  cutting  off  of  the\'^60  years  : 
for  he  informs  us,  that  both  the  two  Utile  horns  will  be  de- 
stroyed, and  that  the  whole  expedition  of  the  zvilful  king 
will  take  place,  at  this  time  of  the  end;  events  of  such 
magnitude,  that,  although  they  may  commence  at  the  end 
of  the  period  of  the  zoonders,  they  plainly  cannot  be  fi«- 
ished  in  a  single  da  if  or  a  single  year.  He  does  not  in- 
deed acquaint  us  what  precise  length  of  time  will  be  oc- 
cupied in  the  full  accomplishment  of  these  important 
events,  but  he  teaches  us  that  7«5  years  will  elapse  be- 
tween the  termination  of  the  1260  years  and  the  commence'- 
ment  of  the  time  of  blessedness  or  the  Millennium.^  Hence 
it  seems  most  reasonable  to  conclude,  that  these  75  years 
constitute  what  Daniel  styles  the  end  o^  the  time  of  the 

*  Dan.  xii.  4,  9. 

f  Dan.  xii.  13.  "  The  end  (Ketz  not  Aarith)  of  the  days."  This  curious  passage 
both  shews  plainly,  that  the  end  or  the  time  of  the  cud  cannot  mean  the  -whole  period  of 
the  J  260  'jears  ;  and  gfives  some  warrant  to  Mr.  Mede's  opinion,  that  the  first  resur- 
rection, which  immediately  precedes  the  Millennium,  and  which  consequently  takes 
place  during  the  lapse  of  that  intermediate  period  which  I  believe  to  be  styled  the  time 
tf  the  end,  will  be  a  literal  resurrection  of  the  saints  and  martyrs.  Daniel  will  certainly 
not  stand  in  his  lot  during  the  XI&O years :  but  he  is  directed  to  wait  for  that  pur- 
pose till  the  end :   therefore  the  end  cannot  mean  the  1 260  years. 

Much  the  same  argument  may  be  deduced  from  the  time  specified  for  the  unseal- 
ing of  Daniel's  prophecies.  If  they  are  to  remain  sealed  till  the  time  of  the  end,  and  if 
the  time  of  the  end  denote  the  ivhole  period  of  the  1 260  days,  as  Mr.  Mede  supposes  ;  then 
they  will  be  opened  either  at  the  beginning,  or  during  the  lapse,  of  the  1^60  years  .- 
but  we  know,  that  even  now  they  are  not  perfectly  opened,  and  moreover  that  they 
will  not  be  perfectly  opened  till  after  the  oiierthroiu  of  the  Antichristian  confederacy  at 
Armageddon,  which  takes  place  subsequent  to  the  expiration  of  the  1260  jyt-an,  and  at 
some  era  during  the  lapse  of  the  15  years  which  intervene  between  the  end  of  the  1260 
years  and  the  beginning  of  the  Millennium  :  therefore  the  time  of  the  end  cannot  denote 
the  ivhale  period  of  the  1 260  years,  but  must  denote  the  inter-vening  period  of  15  years,  in 
the  course  of  which  the  now  partly  sealed  prophecies  of  Daniel  will  be  completely 
opened  ;  that  is  to  s.iy,  so  fully  accoraphshed  as  to  be  compUtdy  understood. 

j:  Dan.  xii.  11,  12. 
VOL.  I.  1.3 


98 


end;  as  being  that  short  portion  of  intermediate  time, 
which  cuts  o/fand  divides  the  great  period  of  1260^e«n9         \ 
from  the  great  period  of  the  MUlenninm. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Concerning  the  two  first  prophecies  of  Daniel  and  the 
little  horn  of  the  fourth  beast. 

THE  prophetic  dream  of  Nebuchadnezzar, 
and  the  vision  of  the  four  beasts^  equally  predict,  that, 
from  the  era  of  the  Babylonian  monarchij  to  the  com- 
mencement o{  the  Millennium^  there  should  he  four .^  and 
no  more  than  four  empires^  universal  so  far  as  the  Church 
is  concerned. 

The  firsts  or  Babylonian  empire^  is  symbolized  by  the 
golden  head  of  the  image ;  and  by  the  lion  with  eaglets 
wings. 

The  second^  or  Medo-Persian  empire,  is  symbolized  by 
the  silver  breast  and  arms  of  the  image  ;  and  by  the  bear 
xmth  three  ribs  in  its  mouth. 

The  thirds  or  Macedonian  empire.,  is  symbolized  by  the 
brazen  bellij  and  thighs  of  the  image  ;  and  by  the  leopard 
with  four  things  and  four  heads. 

And  the  fourth^  or  Roman  empire,  is  symbolized  by 
the  iron  and  clayey  feet  of  the  image^  branching  out  into 
fen  toes ;  and  bif  the  fourth  beast  diverse  from  all  the 
others,  being  compounded  of  the  three  preceding  sym- 
bols, a  lion,  a  bear,  and  a  leopard,*  and  having  ten  horns. 

The  accuracy,  with  which  the  three  first  sets  of  these 
double  hieroglyphics  describe  the  three  first  great  mon- 
archies, has  been  so  amply  shewn  by  writers  upon  the 
prophecies,  that  it  is  superfluous  for  me  to  discuss  the 
subject  afresh  :  I  shall  therefore  confine  myself  to  the 
history  o{  the  fourth  empire,  symbolized  by  the  feet  of 
the  imagCi  and  by  the  ten-horned  beast. 

'  See  Rev,  xiji.  2. 


99 

The  account  of  this  fourth  empire  in  Nebuchadnezzar^  s 
dream  is  simply,  that  it  should  be  as  strong  as  iron,  and 
break  in  pieces  and  bruise  the  three  preceding  empires ; 
but  that  it  should  afterwards  be  divided  into  ten  kingdoms, 
answering  to  the  ten  toes  of  the  image ^  which,  like  a  mix- 
ture of  clay  and  iron,  should  not  be  equally  powerful, 
but  partly  strong,  and  partly  weak  :  that  the  sovereigns 
of  these  different  kingdoms  should  be  perpetually  con- 
tracting matrirfionial  alliances  with  each  other,  but  that 
nevertheless  they  should  not  cohere  together  the  better  on 
that  account  ;*  for,  although  one  or  two  uf  the  kingdoms 
might  be  thus  united  together  under  a  smgle  govern- 
ment,j*  yet  that  the  principle  of  adhesion  should  be  so 
completely  destroyed,  that  there  never  should  be  affth 
universal  Dionarchy  like  the  four  pjreceding  ones  :  on  the 
contrary,  that  the  onlyffth  empire  should  be  of  «  spirif- 
na-  nature^  which  was  to  break  in  pieces  and  consume  all 
the  other  kingdoms,  and  stand,  itself,  for  ever. 

To  see  how  exactly  the  whole  of  this  prophecy  has 
been  accomplished,  excepting  the  last  particular  which 
is  still  future,  we  need  only  read  the  modern  history  of 
Europe. 

The  account  oi  the  fourth  empire,  in  the  second  proph- 
ecy of  Daniel,  varies  from  that,  in  the  dream  of  Nebu' 
chadnezzar,  only  by  the  introduction  of  another  power, 
not  mentioned  before  among  the  ten  sovereigns,  which  is 
termed  a  little  horn.  The  description  given  oi  this  elev- 
enth politer  is,  that  it  came  up  among  the  other  ten  horns  : 
that  three  of  the  first  horns  were  plucked  up  before  it  : 
that  it  had  eyes  like  the  eyes  of  a  man,  and  a  mouth 
speaking  great  things  :  that  its  look  was  more  stout  than 
its  fellows  :  and  that  it  "  made  war  upon  the  saints,  and 
prevailed  against  them,  until  the  Ancient  of  days  came, 

*  "  Whereas  thou  sawest  iron  mingled  with  miry  clay,  they  shall  mingle  thMn- 
selves  with  the  seed  of  men  :  but  they  shall  not  cleave  one  to  another,  even  as  iron 
is  not  mixed  with  clay."  (Dan.  ii.  43.)  The  interpretation  of  this  passage,  which 
I  have  adopted,  seems  to  me  by  much  the  most  simple  and  natural.  (See  Bp.  New- 
ton's Dissert,  in  loc.) 

f  Tbe  empire  of  Charlemagne  forms  a  seeming  eiception  to  this  statement :  but,  as 
we  shall  hereafter  see,  that  empire  is  predicted  under  the  symbol  of  the  last  head  ofths 
great  Roman  beast,  a  head  that  should  be  commensurate  with  the  ivbcle  beast.  After  the 
death  of  Charlemagne,  his  vast  dominion?  soon  fell  asunder,  and  the  Roman  embin 
again  returned  to  its  4ivid^d  state. 


100 

and  judgment  was  given  to  the  saints  of  the  Most  High, 
and  the  time  came  that  the  saints  possessed  the  king- 
dom." Upon  Daniel's  inquiring  the  meaning  of  this 
symbol^  he  is  informed  by  the  interpreting  angel,  that  it 
represents  a  power ^  which  was  to  rise  up  behind  the  ten 
Mngs^  and  was  to  subdue  or  depress  three  of  them  :  that 
it  was,  in  some  respect  or  another,  to  be  different  from 
all  the  rest  of  the  kings  :  that  it  was  to  speak  great  words 
by  the  side  of  the  Most  High  :  that  it  was  to  wear  out 
or  persecute  the  saints  of  the  Most  High  :  that  it  was  to 
change  times  and  laws  :  and  that  it  was  to  continue  in 
the  possession  of  a  tyrannical  authority  until  a  time^  and 
times ^  and  the  dividing  of  time ^  or  three  prophetic  years 
and  a  half ;  in  other  words,  till  the  commencement  of 
the  time  of  the  end ^  which  ushers  in  the  reign  of  the  saints 
or  the  apocalifptic  millemiium  :  for,  since  the  little  horn 
was  to  prevail  both  to  the  beginning  of  this  reign  of  the 
saints^  and  to  the  end  of  the  three  ifears  and  a  half  it  is 
manifest,  that,  when  the  three  ijears  and  a  half  end,  the 
reign  of  the  saints  will  be  about  beginnitig*  Exactly  at 
the  same  time,  the  Roman  bea'it,  or  the  fourth  great  em- 
pire, from  among  whose  ten  horns  the  little  horn  was  to 
arise,  will  be  slain  ;  and  that  on  account  of  the  sin  which 
he  has  contracted  by  tolerating  and  sanctioning  the  great 
words  spoken  by  his  little  horn  :f  for  the  Roman  beast  in 
7iis  revived  state,"^  and  his  little  tyrannical  horn,  are  each 
to  continue  in  power  during  the  very  same  period  of 
three  years  and  a  half  ov  42  months  ;  consequently  they 
are  to  begin  and  end  their  career  together.§ 

At  the  termination  then  of  this  period,  the  fourth 
beast  and  his  little  horn  will  be  utterly  destroyed,  and 
given  to  the  burning  flame  ;  and  the  triumphant  reign  of 
Christ,  or  the  kingdom  of  the  mountain,  will  commence.  |j 

*  Compare  Dan.  vii — 21,  22  witli  Ver.  25,  26. 

•)•  "  I  beheld  then,  because  of  the  voice  of  the  great  words  which  the  horn  spake  ; 
I  beheld,  even  till  tlie  beast  was  slain."     Dan.  vii.  11. 

\  This  revived  state  of  the  Roman  beast  is  expressly  mentioned  by  St.  John,  though 
not  particularly  noticed  by  Daniel,  (See  Rev.  xiii.  1.  and  xvii — S,  11.)  The  sub- 
ject of  his  re-vlval  will  be  resumed  hereafter. 

§  Dan.  vii.  25— Rev.  xiii.  5. 

II  I  may  here  repeat,  what  I  have  already  observed,  that,  after  the  expiration  of 
the  1260  ^ears-,  God's  controversy  •with  the  nations,  in  the  course  of  which  the  ica.<f 


101 

But  the  three  other  beasts^  namely  the  Bahijlonian^  the 
Medo- Persian^  and  the  Macedonian^  which  were  all  idol- 
atrous beasts  as  contradistinguished  from  an  apostaticailij 
idolatrous  ofie,  although  their  dominion  or  their  power  of 
oppressing  the  Church  be  taken  away,  will  have  their 
lives  or  idolatrous  principles  prolonged  for  a  season  and 
a  time  :  that  is,  prolonged,  after  the  utter  destruction 
of  the  revived  fourth  beast  and  his  apostatical  principles, 
and  consequently  during  the  reign  of  the  saints  ;  which, 
as  we  have  seen,  is  to  commence  at  the  death  of  the 
fourth  beast. 

The  lives  however  of  the  three  beasts  are  only  to  be 
prolonged  for  a  season.  Unreclaimed  by  the  glorious 
manifestations  of  God  in  favour  of  his  millennian  Church, 
they  will  still  persevere  in  their  idolatry ;  and,  at  the 
close  of  the  thousand  years^  will  arrive  at  such  a  pitch  of 
daring  impiety,  as  to  make  an  open  attack  even  upon  the 
beloved  city.  But  fire  from  the  Lord  will  consume  them  ; 
and  the  Church  of  Christ  will  be  finally  translated  from 
earth  to  heaven.^ 

No  doubt  has  been  entertained  by  most  commenta- 
tors upon  the  prophecies,  that  Daniel's  fourth  beast  is 
the  Roman  empire  ;•]"  nor  by  most  protestant  commenta- 
tors, that  the  ten  horns  of  the  beast  are  the  ten  independ" 
ent  kingdoms  into  which  that  empire  was  finally  divided. 
But  there  has  not  been  quite  the  same  unity  of  opinion, 
at  least  not  of  late,  respecting  either  the  character  of  the 
little  horn^  or  the  three  kings  whom  it  was  to  subdue. 

and  his  little  horn  will  be  destroyed,  will  occupy  a  period  of  at  least  30  years  :  con- 
sequently, in  a^jo/ait' strictness  of  speech,  they  will  not  be  destroyed /i;«/W_y  at  the 
end  o{  tde  1260  years  ;  but  only  the  judgments  of  God  will  then  begin  to  go  forth 
against  them. 

*  Compare  Dan.  vii.  13.  with  Rev.  xx.  Both  St.  John  and  Ezekiel  agree  in  call- 
ing the  nations,  which  will  continue  unreclaimed  during  the  Millennium,  Gog  and 
Magog.    See  Ezek.  xxxviii.  and  xxxix. 

f  "  All  ancient  writers,  both  Jewish  and  Christian,  agree  with  Jerome  in  explain- 
ing the  fourth  kingdom  to  be  the  Roman.  Porphyry,  who  was  a  heathen,  was  the  first 
who  broached  the  other  opinion  ;  which,  though  it  hath  been  maintained  since  by 
some  of  the  moderns,  is  yet  not  only  destitute  of  the  authority,  but  is  even  contrary 
to  the  authority,  of  both  scripture  and  history.  It  is  a  just  observation  of  Mr. 
Mede,  who  was  as  able  and  consummate  a  judge  as  any  of  these  matters  :  The  Ro- 
man empire  to  be  the  fourth  kingdom  of  Daniel,  luas  believed  by  the  Church  of  Israel  both  bc~ 
fore  and  in  our  Saviour  s  time  ;  received  by  the  disciples  of  the  Apostles,  and  the  -whole  Christ- 
ian Church,  for  the  first  ZOO  years,  ivithout  any  knoiun  contradiction.  And  I  confess, having 
so  good  ground  in  Scripture,  it  is  -with  me  tantum  non  articulus  fdei,  little  less  than  an  arti' 
•'■'^  9f faith."    Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  in  loc. 


105 

Mr.  Kett  supposes,  that  the  history  of  the  little  Jiorn 
of  the  fourth  beast  is  "  an  epitome  of  the  whole  history 
of  Antichrist  ;"*  who,  according  to  his  scheme,  is  a 
triple  monster,  compounded  of  Popenj,  Mohammedismy 
and  Infidelitij .■\  Hence  he  conjectures,  that  the  little 
horn  of  the  he-goat^  is  nearly  allied  to  the  little  horn  of 
the  fourth  beasts  and  in  some  measure  even  the  same  : 
for,  as  the  eastern  little  horn  is  upon  his  plan  primarily 
Mohammedism,  and  u\i\m2i\.e\y  IjifideHtif  :  so  the  western 
little  horn  is  primarily  Popery,  and  ultimately  Inlidelitif 
likewise.  Nay  it  is  even  more  :  for,  if  I  rightly  under- 
stand Mr.  Kett,  it  is  also  to  include  Mohammedism  :  in- 
asmuch as  DanieFs  account  of  it  "  is  to  be  considered 
as  an  epitome  of  the  whole  history  q>{  Antichrists^  that  is, 
of  Antichrist  in  every  one  of  the  three  forms  which  Mr. 
Kett  ascribes  to  him.  "  In  the  main  points  of  opposi- 
tion to  Christ,"  says  he,  "  and  of  persecution  of  his  ser- 
vants, all  the  branches  of  Antichrist  must  necessarily 
agree  ;  but  the  marks,  which  distinguish  these  confod- 
erute  powers  from  each  other,  appear  to  me  very  strongly 
discriminated  in  these  different  visions  of  Daniel.  All 
foretell  the  power  of  Antichrist,  and  contain  allusions 
perhaps  to  all  the  different  forms  of  that  power  :  but 
each  vision  seems  to  describe  one  of  these  forms  with  pe- 
culiar distinctness,  while  it  points  to  some  circumstances 
xvhich  strongly  characterize  that  power,  which  was  to 
arise  the  last ;  and,  if  we  rightly  conjecture,  will  prevail 
the  most,  and  which  are  not  easily  appropriated  to  either 
of  the  other, §  The  symbol  of  a  little  horn  is  applicable 
to  Antichrist  in  the  beginnings  of  all  its  forms.  Papal,  Mo- 
hammedan, and  InJideL  The  power  of  Antichrist  is  still 
the  little  horn  :   but,  as  exerted  in  Greece  and  the  East, 

*  Hist,  the  Interp.  Vol.  1.  p.  340.  f  Ibid.  p.  S09.         |  Dan.  viii.   9. 

§  I  have  not  been  able  clearly  to  discover,  ivhkh  of  the  three  visions  Mr.  Kett 
supposes  to  describe  -wiih  peculiar  distinctness  the  infidel  Antichrist.  According  to  his 
plan,  the  little  horn  of  the  fourth  beast  is  primarily /iif  Papacy,  secondarily  Mohammedism, 
and  ultimately  Infdelity  :  (Hist,  the  Inter,  of  Proph.  Vol.  1.  p.  378  et  infra)  the  little 
horn  of  the  he-goat  or  the  third  beast  is  primarily  Mohammedism,  ^.^A  ultimately ////fi/c/z/y  .- 
(Ibid.  p.  3J5  et  infra)  and  the  king, predicted  in  Daniel's  last  -vision,  is  both  the  Papacy, 
in  which  case  his  antagonists,  the  king  of  the  South,  and  the  king  of  the  North,  are  the 
Saracens  and  the    Turks  :    (Ibid.  p.    338.)  and  he  is    hkewise    a  double  type  of  Antichrist. 

(Ibid.)     In  the  table  of  contents  indeed  prefixed  to  his  second  volume,  he  speaks  of  the 
little  horn  of  the  fourth  beast  as  being  solely  the  inf.del  poiver  ;   but  the  table  itSclf  by  Ut) 

means  quadrates  with  the  contents  of  either  volume. 


103 

it  is  described  as  the  little  horn  of  the  he-goat  or  ilie  third 
empire,  and  this  even  to  the  present  hour  ;  for  the  seat 
of  the  Mohammedan  empire  is  Grecia,  or  what  was  call- 
ed the  Greek  empire.  As  exerted  in  Italy  and  the  West^ 
it  is  described  as  the  little  horn  of  the  fourth  beast  ^  or  the 
fourth  empire.  But  it  is  remarkable,  that  in  those  pre- 
dictions, which  the  angel  expressly  declares  will  be  ac- 
complished towards  the  end  of  the  appointed  time,  this 
distinction  of  East  and  West  seems  to  be  lost,  both  in 
this  of  the  Ram  and  the  He-Goaf.,  and  in  the  following 
vision,  (which  I  conceive  intended  particularly  to  de- 
scribe the  Mohammedan  and  Papal  powers,)  and  Anti- 
christ appears  with  all  the  subtlety  and  fury  and  univer- 
sally extended  tyranny,  with  Avhich  we  find  him  deline- 
ated in  the  Revelation  under  the  symbol  of  the  second 
beast,  and  which  corresponds  with  the  little  horn  in  the 
vision  of  the  four  beasts,  which  is  to  be  considered  as  an 
epitom^  of  the  xvhole  history  of  Antichrist,*  And  this 
circumstance,  1  apprehend,  intimates  the  general  aposta- 
cy  and  persecution  which  is  to  take  place  under  the  infi- 
del poxoer,  which  was  to  succeed  the  violence  oi  the  two 
former,  and  be  an  instrument  of  punishment  to  their  ad- 
herents, and  of  trial  to  the  church  of  Christ/'f 

What  tJie  three  horns  or  kingdoms  are  which  the  proph- 
et beheld  plucked  up  before  the  little  horn,  Mr.  Kett 
does  not  himself  attempt  to  decide  ;  but,  agreeably  to 
his  supposition,  that  M/^  little  horn  \s  a  symbol  of  ^«- 
iichrist  in  all  his  three  forms,  he  seems  to  think  that  ev- 
ery one  of  these  three  forms  will  respectively  depress 
three  kingdoms.  "  Whea  we  considered  the  vision  of  the 
beasts,  and  the  little  horn  which  rose  among  or  after  the 
ten  horns,  it  was  observed,  that  this  vision  probably  con- 
tained a  description  of  the  vshole  of  Antichrist.  The 
distinct  pictures,  which  we  have  since  seen  of  the  Mo- 
hammedan and  papal  forms  oi"  this  power,  appear  to  con- 
firm this  idea.  And,  when  we  reflect  upon  the  superior 
solemnity  of  the  conclusion  o(  this  first  vision,  it  will,  I 

•  Mr.  Kett  means,  that  tie  little  horn,  not  the  •vision  of  the  four  beasts,  is  the  epitome 
of  the  whole  history  of  Antichrist.  "  This  account  of  the  little  horn"  says  he,  "  I  con- 
sider as  an  epitome  of  the  whole  history  of  Antichrist."     Val,  1.  p.  340. 

t  Hist,  the  Interp.  of  Proph,  'S'qI,  I.  p.  347. 


104 

think,  seem  probable,  that  in  this  general  description  the 
last  of  the  forms  it  was  to  assume  would  be  the  most  par- 
ticularly noticed,  if  any  were  particularized  above  the 
rest.  We  shall  find,  1  think,  upon  examination,  that 
this  was  really  the  case.  These  ten  kingdoms  do  not  ne- 
cessarily a})pear  to  belong  to  the  icestern  division  of  the 
empire  ;*  and  it  seems  clear  that  this  broken  form  is  to 
remain  till  the  judgment  is  set.  We  are  therefore  at  lib- 
erty to  suppose,  that  ihis  little  hofvi  which  is  Antichrist, 
represents  both  the  Mohammedan  poller  in  the  east,  and 
the  papal po'ji'er  in  the  zcesf  ;  which  were  in  tact  raised  up 
nearly  together  :  and,  if  the  description  of  this  horn  be 
found  fairly  applicable  to  another  power  which  was  to 
arise  afterwards,  within  the  bounds  of  the  ancient  Roman 
empire,  (as  we  gather  from  the  consideration  of  other 
prophecies,)  we  may  as  naturally  conclude,  that  it  was 
designed  to  represent  that  poziDer  also.  If  this  be  grant- 
ed, and  surely  it  can  hardly  be  denied,  the  different  opin- 
ions of  commentators  respecting  this  horn,  so  far  from 
being  discordant,  will  be  found  in  unison,  and  more 
loudly  sound  the  harmony  of  prophetic  truth. f     Those, 

*  It  will  hereafter  be  shewn,  that  they  do  necessarily  belong  to  the  western  di\'is- 
ion  of  the  empire. 

■\  This  method  of  shewing  the  concordance  of  commentators,  and  the  harmony  of  prophetic 
truth,  would,  I  fear,  have  but  very  little  weight  with  a  captious  infidel.  Such  a  person 
would  naturally  say,  "  If  a  ungle  symbol  may  at  once  represent  so  many  different  poivers,  it 
is  impossible  that  tiiere  should  be  any  certainty  in  prophecy.  A  symbol  must  typify 
some  one  fpccifc pozver  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others ;  or  else  it  may  be  made  to  signify  just 
what  the  commentator  pleases.  In  one  age  it  may  be  convenient  to  apply  it  to _Moham- 
medism  ;  in  another,  to  Popery,  in  a  third,  to  Infdelity  ;  Air.  Kett  informs  US,  that  it  repre- 
sents them  all :  a  succeeding  tcriter  may  apply  it  to  a  poiaer  not  yet  arisen  :  what  opinion 
can  we  form  of  so  very  ductile  a  prophecy  as  this  V^  These  objections  I  am  una- 
ble to  answer  upon  Mr.  Kett's  plan  :  but  nothing  is  more  easy,  if  we  adopt  the 
simple  and  reasonable  scheme  of  "  utterly  denj-ing  the  poffibility  of  a  chronological 
prophecy  being  capable  of  receiving  more  than  one  completion  ;  and  of  allowing  no 
interpretation  of  it  to  be  valid,  except  the  prediction  agree  with  its  supposed  ac- 
complishment in  every  particular."  On  these  principles,  the  answer  would  be  suf- 
ficiently obvious.  There  is  a  certain  poiver,  which  perfectly  accords  with  this  symbol 
of  the  little  horn  both  chronologically,  locally,  and  circumstantially  :  therefore  the  symbol 
must  relate  to  this  individual  poxver,  and  to  none  else  ;  to  none  either  of  those  which 
preceded  it,  or  which  hereafter  may  succeed  it.  History  undeniably  shews  us,  that  the 
poiver  in  question  does  agree  in  all  these  points  with  the  symbol :  we  inoiv  that  Daniel 
flourished  long  before  this  poiuer  arose  :  we  knoiv,  that  in  liis  days  no  human  wisdom 
could  have  foreseen  that  it  ivould  arise  :  how  then  are  we  to  account  for  this  exact 
correspondence  between  the  symbol  and  the  po-.i'er,  except  by  allowing  the  divine 
inspiration  of  him,  to  whom  the  mystic  vision  of  the  four  beasts  was  so  accurately 
revealed,  and  to  whom  at  the  sam?.  time  a  literal  interpretation  of  it  was  prophetical- 
ly detailed .""' 


105 

who  see  the  Mohammedan  power  in  the  little  horn  which 
arose  from  the  fourth  heast ^  generally  suppose  jB^^^^, 
Asia^  and  Greece^  to  be  the  three  horns  plucked  up  by 
the  roots  before  it.  Bp.  Newton,  in  his  application  of 
this  prophecy  to  the  papal  poxcer^  considers  them  to  be 
the  exarchate  of  Ravenna^  the  kingdom  ofLombardy^  and 
the  state  of  Rome ;  and  observes,  that  the  Pope  hath  in 
a  manner  pointed  himself  out  for  the  person  described, 
by  wearing  the  triple  crown.  We  can  at  present  form 
no  opinion  concerning  the  three  horns,  which  are  to  be 
eradicated  by  the  infidel  power;  whether  absolutely 
kingdoms  be  meant,  or  whether  independent  states  may 
be  considered  as  a  sufficient  explanation  :  but  posterity 
may  be  enabled  to  decide  upon  this  subject  perhaps 
more  clearly  than  the  partial  fulfilment  of  this  prophecy 
has  hitherto  enabled  us  to  do,  respecting  the  conquests 
of  the  Mohammedan  and  papal  poioers."* 

The  foregoing  plan  of  Mr.  Kett  appears  to  me  much 
too  complicated  and  intricate  to  be  probable.  If  one 
and  the  same  horn  is  to  symbolize  three  dijferent  pozvers, 
there  certainly  cannot  be  any  precision  or  definiteness  in 
the  prophecy  ;  for  it  must  be  w/er^  conjecture  to  attempt 
to  determine,  zvhat  part  of  the  history  of  the  little  horn 
belongs  to  one  of  the  three  pozcers,  and  zc/z a/ respectively 
to  the  tzoo  others.  From  the  language  of  Daniel  him- 
self no  such  system  can  be  fairly  deduced.  Throughout 
the  whole  vision  of  the  four  beasts,  the  little  horn  is 
described  as  strictly  and  simply  one  pointer,  uniform  and 
consistent  in  its  conduct,  performing  a  certain  number 
of  clearly  defined  actions,  and  continuing  in  the  exercise 
of  a  tyrannical  authority  the  precise  term  of  three  pro- 
phetic years  and  a  half  It  is  surely  then  highly  im- 
probable, and  extremely  unlike  the  usual  method  of 
Daniel's  writing,  to  suppose,  that,  while  in  the  exu- 
berance of  his  symbolical  imagery  he  gives  tzoo  several 
hieroglyphical  descriptions  of  the  first  2iUf\  fourth  empires 
and  no  less  than  three  such  descriptions  of  the  second 
and  third  empires  \^  he  should  nevertheless  be  suddenly 
reduced  to  such  a  poverty  of  imagination  as  to  represent 

*  Hist,  the  Int.  of  Proph.  Vol.  i.  p.  376.  f  Dan.  ii.  ▼"•  fi"- 

VOL.   I.  14 


106 

three  very  different  powers  by  ojie  and  the  same  symbol^ 
thereby  involving  the  history  of  those  pozccrs  in  the  most 
impenetrable  obscurity  and  the  most  perplexing  uncer- 
tainty. To  repeat  an  observation  which  I  have  already 
made,  if  various  symbols  be  used  to  represent  the  same 
thing,  we  shall  be  in  no  danger  of  mistaking  the  pro- 
phet's meaning,  provided  only  we  can  ascertain  the 
import  of  each  individual  symbol ;  but,  if,  on  the  contrary, 
in  the  course  of  a  single  passage,  the  same  symbol  be 
used  to  express  many  different  things,  it  will  be  impos- 
sible to  understand  a  prophecy  couched  in  such  ambig- 
uous terms,  because  we  can  never  be  sure,  when  we 
proceed  to  consider  the  prophecy  article  by  article,  to 
which  of  those  different  things  each  article  is  to  be  re- 
ferred. On  these  grounds  1  feel  myself  compelled  to 
reject  Mr.  Kett's  interpretation  of  the  history  of  the 
little  horn,  as  resting  upon  no  solid  foundation,  and 
receiving  no  warrant  from  the  plain  language  of  Daniel. 

Mr.  Galloway,  avoiding  the  perplexity  introduced  by 
Mr  Kett,  supposes,  that  the  little  horn  is  07ie,  and  only 
one,  power  ;  which  power  he  conjectures  to  be  rev- 
olutionary France.  Many  however  are  the  difficulties 
which  must  be  overcome,  before  such  an  opinion  as  this 
can  be  satisfactorily  established.  The  difficulties  are 
these.  The  horn  is  termed  by  the  prophet  a  little  horn, 
and  is  represented  as  a  distinct  pozver  from  the  other 
ten  horns ;  whereas  France  is  not  only  one  of  these  ten 
horns,  but  the  very  largest  of  them  all  :  and  this  little 
horn  is  to  subdue  three  of  the  first  kings,  to  z^ear  out 
the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  and  to  continue  in  pozver 
during  the  space  of  a  time,  and  times,  and  the  dividing  of 
time ;  whereas  7ione  of  these  iuarks  appear,  at  the  first 
sight,  to  be  at  all  applicable  to  revolutionary  France, 

With  regard  to  the  epithet  little,  Mr.  Galloway  will 
not  allow  it  to  be  taken  in  the  literal  and  most  obvious 
sense.  "  It  cannot,"  says  he,  "  be  little  in  respect  to 
strength  and  power ;  but  he  is,  in  the  sense  of  the  proph- 
et, as  I  humbly  apprehend,  little,  and  of  no  weight,  in 
the  scale  of  virtue  and  religion,  and  of  little  or  no  account 
in  the  sight  and  estimation  of  God.  He  is  little  and 
worthless,  because  he  is  to  exceed  in  wickedness  all  be- 


107 

ibre  him.     In  this  sense  the  word  is  used  in  many  passa- 
ges of  Scripture.*     Moreover  his  power,  however  great 
for  a  time,  is  little,   because  it  is  to  continue  but  a  little 
time  when  compared  with  other  prophetic  periods  ;  and 
it  is  little  indeed  when  compared   with   the  power  of 
Christ,  who,  according  to  St.  Paul,  shall  consume  it  with 
the  spirit  of'  his  mouth,  and  destroy  it  with  the  brightness 
oy  his  coming.     With  this  sense  of  the  word  little  all  its 
other  tropes,   as  we   shall   presently  find,   are  in   perfect 
agreement ;  and  therefore  we  may  conclude  it  is  the  true 
literal   sense."f      The  three  kingdoms,  which  the  little 
horn  was  to  subdue,  Mr.  Galloway  conjectures  to  be  the 
kingdom  oj" France,  the  Stadliolderate  oj' Holland,  and  the 
Helvetic  union  or  Swiss  confederacij.%     And  the  saints  of 
the  Most  High,  whom  it  was   to  wear  out,   he  supposes 
to  be  the  popish  clergy  of  France  and  such  of  the  laity  as 
adhered  to  them.\ — The  prophet   however  asserts,  that 
the  little  horn  was  to  wear  out  the  saints  during  the  space 
of  three  years  and  a  half     These  years  have  been  usu- 
ally thought  to  be  prophetic  years,  in  which   case  they 
would   be   the  same  period   as   the  forty-two  prophetic 
months,  or  the  t'welve  hundred  and  sixty  prophetic  days  : 
but  Mr.  Galloway  maintains,  that  they  are  mere  natural 
or  solar  years ;  and  cites,  in  proof  of  his  supposition,  the 
history  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  whose  madness  was  to  con- 
tinue seven  times,  or  seven  natural  years,  not  seven  pro- 
phetic  years.  ||      The  three  times  and  a  half  then,  during 
which  the  horn  was  to  wear  out  the  saints,  are,  according 
to  Mr.  Galloway,  the  th^ee  natural  years  and  a  half  ,  dur- 
ing which  Christianity  was  formally  suppressed  by  law 
in  France.     "  Taking,"  says  he,  "  certain  late  events, 
which  have  come  to  pass  in  France,   as  my  guide,  I  am 
led  to  interpret  these  numbers  into  three  (literal)  years 
and  a  half :    a  construction,  not  only  justified  by   the 
text,  but  clearly  supported   by  the  events.     For,  if  we 
date  the  beginning  of  this  period,  at  the  time  of  the  last 
dreadful  decree  for  the  exile  of  the  clergy,  and  its  mur- 

*  The  texts,  which  Mr.  Galloway  cites  in  favour  of  this  interpretation,  are  the 
foUowbg  :   1  Sam.  xv.  17— Nehem.  jx.  32— Isaiah  xl.  15— Micah  v.  2.      _ 
f  Comment,  p.  401.  J  Ibid.  p.  419. 

§  Ibid.  p.  41 7.  .^1  Ibid.  p.  41 3—4 1'7, 


105 

derous  execution  ;  and  its  end,  at  the  time  of  the  decree 
granting  to  the  Christians,  who  remained  in  France,  and 
had,  through  the  mercies  of  God,  been  wonderfully  pre- 
served, a  free  toleration  of  their  religion  :  we  shall  find 
it  a  time,  times,  and  the  dividing  of  time,  or  exactly  three- 
years  and  a  half.  The  decree  for  the  exile  of  the  clergy 
passed  the  2ot/«  of  August  1792,  but  the  murderous  ex- 
ecution of  it  was  not  finished  until  the  latter  end  of  the 
following  month.  From  that  time  no  person  in  France 
dared  to  mention  the  name  of  God,  or  of  his  blessed  Son 
Jesus  Christ,  but  with  disrespect  and  contempt ;  or,  if 
he  did,  he  was  scorned  and  insulted,  and  put  to  death  as 
a  fanatic.  This  is  therefore  a  proper  epoch,  from  whence 
to  date  the  giving  up  the  saints  into  the  hands  of  the 
little  horn,  or  the  then  horrible  government  of  France, 
whose  power  was  then  styled  the  reign  of  terror  and  of 
death.  As  to  the  end  of  this  prophetic  period,  the  event 
is  equally  demonstrative  of  it.  For  from  the  end  of  Sep- 
tember 1792,  when  the  clergy  were  imprisoned  and  mas- 
sacred, (for  they  were  not  permitted  even  to  go  into  ex- 
ile) the  distressing  state  of  the  Christians  in  France  sur- 
passes description.  Death,  the  most  horrible,  was  con- 
tinually staring  them  in  the  face.  The  guillotine,  the 
cannon,  musket,  and  national  baths,  were  in  constant 
exercise  ;  and  the  minds  of  every  man,  woman,  and 
child,  professing  Christianity,  were  smitten  with  the 
dread  of  immediate  death.  In  this  dreadful  state  (a  state 
in  which,  according  to  the  literal  sense  of  the  text,  they 
were  given  into  the  hand  of  the  French  government)  they 
remained  until  the  latter  e?id  of  JSIarch  1796  ;  when, 
glutted  with  Christian  blood,  the  atheistical  demagogues 
passed  a  decree,  granting  a  full  toleration  of  all  kinds  of 
religion,  which  virtually  repealed  all  the  decrees  against 
fanatics,  and  delivered  the  Christians  out  of  their  hands. 
Now,  if  we  calculate  the  time  between  the  latter  end  of 
September  1792,  and  the  latter  end  of  March  1796,  we 
shall  find  it,  in  the  language  of  prophecy,  a  time,  times^ 
and  a  dividing  of  time  ;  which,  when  interpreted,  is  ex- 
actly a  period  of  three  years  and  a  half."* 

'  Comment,  p.  417, 


109 

This  hypothesis  of  Mr.  Galloway  is,  I  fear,  no  better' 
founded  than  that  of  Mr.  Kett. 

Whatever  the  epithet  little  may  signify  in  other  parts 
of  Scripture,*  the  context  sufficiently  shews,  that,  when 
applied  to  the  eleventh  horn  of  the  Roman  beast,  it  sim- 
ply means  small  in  point  of  size.  There  is  a  very  sensi- 
ble rule,  that  words  used  in  the  same  passage  antitheti- 
cally or  relatively  must  bear  the  same  kind  of  significa- 
tion. Thus,  when  Ezekiel,  in  one  continued  clause, 
speaks  of  a  righteous  man  turning  from  his  righteousness 
to  iniquity,  and  of  a  wicked  xn^w  turning  from  his  imcked- 
ness  to  righteousness  :-\  no  one  can  reasonably  doubt, 
that  the  righteousness,  which  the  one  has  forsaken,  is  the 
very  righteousness,  which  the  other  has  attained  ;  or  that 
the  iniquitij,  which  the  one  has  plunged  into,  is  no  less 
an  aberration  from  the  will  of  God,  (though  it  may  not 
be  precisely  the  same  mode  of  aberration,)  than  Xheiniq- 
uitij,  which  the  other  has  happily  forsaken.  Unless  this 
be  allowed,  the  antithesis  and  relation  of  the  words  ri^^^^- 
eous  man  and  wicked  man,  and  righteousjiess  and  wicked- 
ness, are  entirely  destroyed  ;  and  the  whole  passage  is 
consequently  deprived  of  all  definiteness  of  meaning.  If 
then  we  advert  to  the  context  of  the  passage,  wherein 
the  little  horn  is  mentioned,  we  shall  find,  that  the  pro- 
phet hpheld  four  great  beasifs:  nonning  up  from  the   sea; 

*  I  am  not  perfectly  riear,  that  the  word  little  ever  occurs  in  Scripture  in  the 
sense  of  morally  iv'jrthless.  The  passages,  cited  by  Mr.  Galloway  in  support  of  this 
interpretation  of  the  word,  afford  it  no  support  whatsoever.  In  all  of  them,  with- 
out exception,  the  epithet  little  is  used  in  the  sense  of  ivorthless  or  trifling  in  point  of 
■value  or  consequence,  not  m  that  of  ivorthless  in  point  of  religion  and  inorality.  It  is  su- 
perfluous to  observe,  that  there  is  a  most  essential  difference  between  these  tivi  kinds  of 
ivorthlcssness.  Cruden,  than  whom  few  men  were  better  acquainted  with  the  bible, 
does  not  mention  the  sense  of  morally  ivorthless  among  the  different  scriptural  signifi- 
cations which  he  supposes  the  word  little  to  bear  :  and  Parkliurst  only  gives  three 
meanings  of  the  radical  "lyi,  here  used  by  Daniel,  namely  small  in  point  of  size,  time, 
and  quantity.  The  matter,  after  all,  is  reducible  to  this.  We  are  not  concerned 
with  what  the  English  word  little  may  mean,  when  it  occurs  in  Scripture  ;  but  with 
what  the  Hcbreiu  word  "ij?T,  which  occurs  in  this  particular  passage,  means.  Let  the 
reader  then  turn  to  Calasio's  Heb.  Concordance,  and  he  will  soon  be  satisfied,  that  the 
word  "lut  never  signifies  morally  ivorthless.  Mr.  GaUoway  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  aware,  that  this  word  -|jji  is  not  used  in  any  one  of  the  passages  to  which  he  re- 
fers in  proof  of  his  interpretation.  Consequently,  even  if  our  English  translation 
little  had  signified  morally  ivorthless  in  all  of  them,  he  would  have  been  no  nearer  to 
the  establishing  of  his  opinion.  In  one  of  them  indeed  the  cognate  word  ipy  is  used  ; 
but  this  no  more  bears  the  sense  of  morally  ivorthless  than  "lUl.  In  the  three  others, 
three  entirely  different  words  are  employed ;  all  of  which  are  alike  translated  little. 

f  Ezek.  xviii.  26,  27. 


110 

and  that  one  of  these  great  beasts  had  a  little  horn,  which 
sprung  up  among  his  other  ten  larger  horns.  In  a  sim- 
ilar manner,  if  we  advert  to  the  context  of  the  passage, 
wherein  the  little  horn  of  the  he-goat  ov  third  great  beast 
is  mentioned,*  we  shall  find,  that  this  he-goat  is  said  to 
have  had  one  great  horn  ;  from  the  broicen  stump  of 
which  came  up  four  notable  horns,  and  also  a  little  horn 
which  came  forth  out  of  one  of  the  four  notable  horns. •]• 
With  such  a  double  context  then  before  us,  is  it  reason- 
able to  suppose,  that  the  four  great  beasts^  and  the  great 
Jiorn^  mean  Xw.oxTiW'^  four  beasts^  and  a  horn^  large  in  point 
of  size ;  but  that  the  little  horn  does  not  mean  literally 
a  horn  small  in  point  of  size,  but  figuratively  a  morallij 
noorthless  horn  /  To  make  the  two  passages  at  all  con- 
sistent, the  same  hind  of  signification  must  be  borne  by 
the  word  greats  as  by  the  word  little :  consequently,  if« 
little  horn  mean  a  morally  xcorthless  staie^  a  great  horny 
^nd  a  great  beast  \\\\\  me?i\i  a  morallij  zvorthy  state  or 
empire.  But,  since  this  conclusion  is  a  manifest  absurd- 
ity, and  since  a  great  horn  and  a  great  beast  certainly 
mean  a  large  state  or  empire^  a  little  horn  must  necessa- 
rily mean  a  small  state.  France  however  is  both  a  large 
state,  and  one  of  the  ten  horns ;  and  the  little  horn,  what- 
ever it  may  be,  is  both  a  small  state,  and  not  one  of  the 
fen  horns  :  France  therpfore  most  undeniably  cannot  he 
symbolized  by  the  little  horn. 

Having  thus  shewn,  that  the  little  horn  cannot  be 
France,  it  may  seem  almost  unnecessary  to  prosecute 
the  matter  any  further  ;  for,  if  the  horn  itself  be  not 
France,  none  of  the  particulars  which  are  predicated  of 
the  horn  can  be  applied  to  that  countrij.  Nevertheless, 
in  order  that  the  non-identity  of  France  and  the  little 
horn  may  be  the  more  satisfactorily  established,  I  shall 
likewise  consider  the  other  points  wherein  Mr.  Galloway 
thinks  that  he  has  discovered  an  agreement  between 
them. 

The  little  horn  is  to  depress  three  of  the  first  ten  horns. 
These,  according  to  Mr.  Galloway,  are  the  monarchij  of 

"■■  The  he-goai  symbolizes  the  same  poivcr  as  the  leopard  in  the  preceiding  vision  of  t^s 
four  beads. 

^  Dan.  viii.  8,  P. 


Ill 

France^  the  Stadholder ate  of  Holland^  and  tJie  Swiss  co?!- 
federacu — The  first  objection,  that  an  historical  student 
would  make  to  such  a  mode  of  interpretation,  is  obvi- 
ously this:  Daniel  declares, that  three  ot the Jirsf  ten  horns 
should  be  plucked  up  before  the  little  horn:  now,  upon 
adverting  to  the  list  of  the  ten  primarij  Gothic  sovereign- 
ties into  which  the  Roman  empire  was  originallif  divided, 
%ve  shall  find  it  a  vain  labour  to  discover  among  them 
those  two  completely  modern  states,  Holland  and  Swit- 
zerland. One  only  of  the  Jirst  ten  horns  was  in  exist- 
ence when  the  French  revolution  broke  out,  the  ancient 
Idngdom  of  the  Franks  ;*  hence  it  is  plainly  impossible, 
that  the  prophecy  should  receive  its  accomplishment  in 
the  present  day.  If  it  has  not  been  long  since  fulfilled, 
it  nozo  never  can  be  fulfilled — The  next  objection  is, 
that  France  cannot,  with  any  shew  of  probability,  be 
reckoned  at  once  both  the  little  horn  lohich  subdues^  and 
the  horn  which  is  subdued.  1  am  aware,  that  Mr.  Gallo-^ 
way  supposes  the  little  horn  to  be  re-oolutionary  France., 
and  the  other  horn  to  be  regal  France ;  but  the  language 
of  prophecy  knows  no  such  distinctions.  It  considers 
stateSy  rather  than  revolutions  of  states  ;  though  it  will 
frequently  mark,  with  wonderful  accuracy,  even  those 
very  revolutions.  The  Roman  empire^  or  the  fourth 
heast^  under  all  its  seven  different  heads  ov  forms  of  gov- 
ernment, is  still  considered  as  only  one  power.  The  de- 
struction of  its  regal  head  by  the  consulate,  and  of  its 
consular  head  by  the  emperorship,  is  not  represented  un- 
der the  image  of  its  being  attacked  by  another  beast  : 
Rome  is  never  said  by  the  prophet  to  subdue  Rome.  In 
a  similar  manner,  France  whether  under  the  government 

*  In  strict  propriety  of  speech,  the  orlgjnal  kingdom  of  the  Angels  cannot  be  consid- 
ered as  being  at  present  in  existence,  the  line  of  succession  having  been  broken  both 
by  the  Danish  and  Norman  conquests  :  one  only  therefore  of  the  ten  prh/iary  ^mg- 
Aoms,  that  of  the  /"/awij,  remained  at  tile  era  of  the  revolution.  The  kingdom  of  the 
Huns  indeed  still  exists  nominally,  hut  its  independence  is  no  more.  It  is  swallowed  up  in 
the  superior  power  of  Austria,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  pi-imitive  kingdom  of  Burgun- 
dy IS  lost  in  that  of  the  Franks.  There  is  moreover  another  reason,  why  the  modern 
kingdom  of  Hungary  ca.n  scarcely  be  considered  the  same  as  the primiti-ue  kingdom  of 
the  Huns.  "  Hungary  "  says  Mr.  Gibbon,  «  has  been  successively  occupied  by  three 
Scythian  colonies  :  the  Huns  of  Attila  {yi\io  cor^i.UtaX.&A  the  primiti-vc  kingdom  ■)  the 
Abares,  in  the  sixth  centur)' ;  and  the  Turks  of  Magiars,  a.  d.  889.  the  immediate 
and  genuine  ancestors  of  the  modern  Hungarians,  whose  connection  with  the  two 
former  is  cxtreBacly  faiut  and  remote."     Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  vi.  p.  38. 


112 

of  the  Merovingians •>  the  Car/ovingians,  or  the  Capets  : 
whether  oppressed  by  the  diabolical  tyranny  of  the  re- 
publican fuctioii^  or  tamely  submitting  to  the  degrading 
usurpation  of  the  upstart  family  of  Buunapart)^  :  France^ 
however,  circumstanced  in  point  of  legislature,  is  still 
France^  still  owe  of  the  original  /e;^  horns  o{  the  Roman 
beast.  Hence  surely  it  cannot  be  at  once  both  the  liorn 
that  subdues,  and  the  horn  that  is  subdued  :  France  is 
never  said  by  the  prophet  to  subdue  France. 

The  little  horn  is  further  to  zceur  out  the  saints  of  the 
Most  High — These  saints  Mr.  Galloway  supposes  to  be 
the  popish  clergy  of  France,  and  such  of  the  laittf  as  were 
unwilling  to  give  up  the  Christianity  of  the  Church  of 
Rome  for  the  blasphemous  atheism  of  the  mock  republic. 
That  there  have  been  many  sincere  Christians  in  the 
midst  of  all  the  voluntary  humility  and  superstitious  will- 
worship  of  the  mystic  Babtjlon*  1  am  by  no  means  dis- 
posed to  deny.  To  adopt  the  words  of  the  excellent 
Hooker,  "  Forasmuch  as  it  may  be  said  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  she  hath  yet  a  little  strength,  she  doth  not  directly 
deny  the  foundation  of  Christianity  ;  I  may,  I  trust, 
without  offence,  persuade  myself  that  thousands  of  our 
fathers,  in  former  times  living  and  dying  within  her  walls, 
have  found  mercy  at  the  hands  of  God. f  Nevertheless, 
though  1  readily  make  this  concession  to  the  pious  papist, 
I  cannot  quite  so  easily  bring  myself  to  think,  that  the 
members  of  an  idolatrous  and  persecuting  Apostacy, 
xchen  spoken  of  collectively,  would  be  called  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  God  the  saints  of  the  Most  High.  They,  who 
as  a  body,  are  represented  as  zi^orshippers  of  mediating 
demons,  and  idols  of  gold  and  silver  and  brass  and  stone 
and  mood ;  as  murderous  persecutors,  sorcerers  or  jug- 
glers, spiritual  fornicators,  and  thieves  :%   they,  who  bear 

*  Coloss.  ii.  18 — 23. 
f  Discourse  of  Justification,  Sect.  17.  Hooker  however  guards,  with  his  usual 
wisdom,  against  any  misapprehension  or  perversion  of  these  words.  "  Many  in 
former  times,  as  their  books  and  writings  do  yet  shew,  held  the  foundation,  to  wit, 
salvation  by  Christ  alone,  and  therefore  might  be  saved.  God  hatli  always  had  a 
Church  amongst  them,  which  firmly  kept  his  saving  truth.  As  for  such  as  hold 
■with  tbe  Church  of  Rome,  X.h-3.t  vie  cdinnol  he  snxedhy  '  hrist  alone  without  works; 
they  do,  not  only  by  a  circle  of  consequence,  but  directly  deny  the  foundatien  of 
faith  :  tliey  hold  it  not,  no  not  so  much  as  by  a  thread."     Ibid,  Sect.  ly. 

i  Rev.  ix.  20,  21. 


113 

such  a  character  in  one  part  of  Scripture,  can  never  sure- 
ly be  honoured  with  the  title  of  saints  of  the  Most  High 
in  another  part.  Even  Mr.  Galloway  himself,  though 
he  supposes  the  popish  clergij  of  France  to  be  the  saints 
worn  out  by  the  tijranmi  of  the  little  horn ;  yet,  in  another 
part  of  his  work  thinks,  that  the  second  vial  of  the  wrath 
of  God  is  to  be  poured  out  upon  papal  Rome,  "  as  a  just 
judgment  for  her  abominable  idolatry,  for  her  artful  se- 
duction and  unrelenting  and  bloody  persecutions  of  the 
Church  of  his  blessed  Son,  and  for  her  daring  impiety  in 
the  assumption  of  his  divine  attributes."*  Now,  al- 
though the  French  clergy  did  not  quite  so  implicitly  sub- 
mit to  the  unqualified  claims  of  the  pretended  successors 
of  St.  Peter  as  those  of  Spain,  Portugal,  and  Italy  :  yet 
I  never  heard,  that  they  had  in  any  degree  renounced 
their  heretical  opinions,  their  blasphemous  idolatries,  and 
their  ridiculous  mummeries  ;  or  that  any  of  them  felt  a 
single  scruple  of  conscience  respecting  the  execrable  oath, 
exacted  by  the  Pope  from  all  whom  he  consecrates  bish- 
ops, that  theij  will,  as  far  as  in  them  has,  persecute  and 
oppose  all  intpugners  of  the  authority  of  the  see  of  Rome. 
This  being  the  case,  let  the  little  horn  be  what  power 
it  may,  the  bigoted  adherents  of  that  sanguinary  hier- 
archy cannot  surely  be  styled,  by  a  divinely  inspired 
prophet,  saints  of  the  Most  Uigh.-f 

*  Comment,  p.  235. 

f  The  reader  will  find  a  very  full  and  satisfactory  statement  of  the  pernicious 
maxims  of  Popery  in  the  able  strictures  on  Ploivden's  Historical  Rei'ietv  of  Ireland, 
commencing  in  the  Avtl-'Jacobin  Rt-vie-w  for  Nov.  1804.  Ke  will  likewise  do  well 
to  peruse  a  tract  published  at  Cambridge  in  the  year  1746,  intitled  The  true  spirit  of 
Popery  displayed.  And,  if  he  require  a  yet  m.ore  circumstantial  detail  of  the  princi- 
ples and  practice  oi  the  Church  of  Rome,  he  will  find  it  in  Mr.  Whitaker's  well-timed 
Commentary  on  the  Rei'clafio!.  To  these  writers  I  beg  to  refer  him,  if  he  wish  for 
any  further  confutation  of  Mr.  Galloway's  opinion,  that  the  popish  clergy  and  royalist 
laity  of  France  are  the  saints  of  the  Most  High  -worn  out  by  the  tyranny  of  the  little  born. 

Mr.  Flett's  conjecture,  that  the  little  horn  ultimately  typifies  the  Infidel poiver  ofFrance^ 
and  that  the  beast  of  the  bottomless  pit  which  slays  the  apocalyptic  ivitnesses  is  French  In- 
fidelity, must  necessarily  lead  him  to  adopt  Mr.  Galloway's  sentiments  respecting 
the  saints  of  God  mentioned  by  Daniel,  and  the  -witnesses  mentioned  by  St.  John  : 
(Compare  Hist,  the  Interp.  Vol.  I.  p.  391.  with  p.  413,  419.)  nay,  his  scheme  is  per- 
plexed with  more  irreconcileable  contradictions  than  even  that  of  Mr.  Galloway. 
When  the  little  horn,  in  its  primary  sense,  means  Popery  ;  then  the  saints  -worn  out  by 
it  must  of  course  mean  all  those  holy  men  -who  protested  against  its  corruptions.  But, 
\vh.en  the  little  horn,  m  hi  ultimate  seme,  mezm  the  Infi.del  poiver  of  France  ;  then  the 
saints  luorn  out  by  it  must  mean  the  Popish  clergy  and  royalist  laity.  Thus  it  is  evident, 
that,  upon  Mr.  Kelt's  plan,  the  saints  sometimes  vaezn  the  persecuted protestants,  and  at 
other  times  the  persecuting  papists ;  while  the  IHtk  horn,  with  equal  flesibllity,  sometimes 

VOL.  r.  l.i) 


114 

Lastly,  the  little  horn  is  to  continue  in  pozcer  three  years 
and  a  half- — These  years  Mr.  Galloway  decides  to  be 
natural  ijears,  and  pronounces  them  to  be  the  three  years 
and  a  hilf\  during  which  atheism  w^as  established  by  law 
in  France.  Upon  this  point,  I  cannot  see,  that  the  ar- 
gument, which  he  brings  from  the  term  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar's madness,  is  at  all  conclusive.  Because  the 
word  time^  when  it  occurs  in  a  prophecy  relative  to 
a  single  individual.,  manifestly  signifies  a  natural  year  ; 
it  does  not  therefore  follow,  that  the  same  word,  when 
it  occurs  in  a  prophecy  relative  to  a  state  or  kingdom^ 
must  necessarily  signify  a  natural  year  in  that  case  also. 

means  the  persecuting  church  of  Rome,  and  at  Other  times  the  French  Republic  which  in  its 
turn  persecuted  the  members  of  that  persecuting  Church.  Or,  to  state  the  matter 
somewhat  ditTerently,  the  little  horn  in  its  ultimate  sense,  persecutes  the  little  horn,  in  its 
pri/nctry  sense  ;  while  the  saints,  in  their  ultimate  sense,  are  the  -very  set  of  men  ivho 
persecuted  the  saints,  in  their  primary  sense  ;  in  Other  words,  the  saints,  in  their  ultimate 
sense,  and  the  little  horn,  in  its  primary  sense,  equally  symbolize  the  Church  of  Rome  and 
her  members.  Such  is  the  Strange  confusion  that  results  from  Mr.  Kett's  scheme  of 
primary  and  secondary  interpretations  of  the  same  prophecy. 

Dr.  Zouch's  sentiments  on  this  point  so  perfectly  accord  with  my  own,  that  I 
cannot  resist  the  pleasure  of  transcribing  them.  Speaking  of  those  interpretations 
which  apply  the  character  of  the  little  horn  to  the  French  Republic  and  the  character 
of  the  saints  ivorn  out  by  it  to  the  Popish  clergy,  he  observes  :  "  An  indiscriminate 
massacre  of  more  than  two  millions  of  the  human  race  sufficiently  indicates  a 
most  savage  and  relentless  power,  but  by  no  means  attaches  to  it  the  peculiar  at- 
tribute of  ivearing  out  the  saints  of  the  Most  High  :  a  character  this  strongly 
expressive  of  spiritual  tyranny,  of  persecution  exercised  upon  others  merely  for 
their  religious  opinions,  and  truly  appropriate  to  the  Church  of  Rome  which  punishes 
good  men  as  being  heretics  ;  professing  enmity  against  them  as  such  ;  regardless  of 
the  atrocity  of  guilt,  however  notorious,  in  her  own  followers,  while  those,  who 
dissent  from  her,  become  the  victims  of  her  inexorable  rage.  A  serious  protestant, 
conversant  in  those  inspired  writings  in  whxh  the  portrait  of  Antichrist"  (bad  as 
the  Papacy  is,  I  Can  see  no  just  warrant  by  the  way  for  applying  this  title  to  it)  "  is 
delineated  as  with  a  pencil  of  Ught,  will  hesitate  to  pronounce  the  members  of  the 
church  of  Rome  the  saints  cf  the  Most  High.  Without  violating  the  law  of  Christian 
charity,  he  must  consider  them  as  professors  of  a  rehgion  perfectly  abhorrent  from 
the  purity  of  the  Gospel,  as  involved  in  idolatrous  and  superstitious  practices,  as 
men  who  have  not  repented  of  the  works  of  their  hands,  that  they  should  not  ivorsbip 
devils  and  idols  of  gold  and  silver  and  brass  and  stone  and  tvood,  ichich  neither  can  see  nor 
bear  nor  ivalk  :  neither  repented  they  of  their  murders,  nor  of  their  sorceries,  nor  of  their 
fornication,  nor  of  their  thefts.  The  blood  of  such  men  has  been  prodigally  shed  :  and 
it  is  v^ery  remarkable,  that  the  French  anarchists  have  introduced  the  horrors  of 
war  principally  into  popish  countries,  as  if  those  nations,  which  profess  the  purity 
of  the  protestant  religion,  were  providentially  preserved  from  danger."  (Zouck 
on  Prophecy,  p.  61.)  The  unerring  voice  of  prophecy  many  ages  ago  predicted 
this  last  circumstance,  which  Dr.  Zouch  justly  styles  a  remarkable  one.  The  -vials 
of  God's  -u-raih  were  to  be  poured  out,  not  upon  the  mystic  -u-itmsscs,  but  upon  those 
"  which  had  the  mark  of  the  beast  and  worshipped  his  image,"  upon  those  "  who  had 
shed  the  blood  of  saints  and  prophets,"  and  along  with  them  upon  those  daring 
infidels,  whether  apostate  protestants  or  renegado  papists, "  who  blasphemed  the 
name  of  God  and  repented  not  to  give  him  glory."  As  for  tliose  who  barkened  to 
the  gracious  invitation,  "  Come  out  of  Babylon,  my  people,  that  ye  be  not  partakers 
of  her  sins,  and  that  ye  receive  not  of  her  plagues ;"  they  have  not  received  of  her 
plagues,  they  have  been  "  providentially  preser^'ed  from  danger," 


115 

The  probability  rather  lies  on  the  contrary  side  ;  more 
especially  when  we  consider  the  context  both  of  Daniel 
and  St.  John.  Daniel  speaks  of  u  power,  that  was  to 
persecute  the  saints  during  the  space  of  three  years  and 
a  half:  St.  John  represents  the  Church,  under  the  sym- 
bol of  «  woman,  as  being  persecuted  1260  dai/s*  by  the 
devil  acting  through  the  instrument  a  lit  ij  of  the  Roman 
heast ;  and  he  afterwards  adds,  in  the  very  same  chapter, 
that  she  was  nourished  from  the  face  of  the  persecuting 
serpent  for  a  time,  times,  and  half' a  time,  or  three  years 
and  a  lialf.^  Now,  when  we  find,  that  three  years  and 
a  /m//" precisely  contain  1260  days  at  the  rate  of  360  days 
to  the  year  ;  that  Daniel  limits  a  persecution  of  the  saints 
to  three  years  and  a  half,  that  St.  John,  apparently  at 
least,  uses  the  two  expressions  of  twelve  hundred  and  sixty 
days  and  three  years  and  a  half  as  synonymous,  for  in 
one  place  he  says  that  the  woman  is  fed  in  the  wilderness 
1260  days,  and  in  another  place  that  she  is  nournished  in 
the  wilderness  three  years  and  a  half:  it  is  surely  only 
reasonable  to  conclude,  that  the  tzvo  expressions  mean  one 
and  the  same  period  of  time,  whatever  that  period  may  be. 
But  that  the  1260  days  mean  years,  no  one  doubts  :  con- 
sequently the  three  years  and  a  half  must  mean  years  of 
years  ;  or,  in  other  words,  prophetic  years,  not  natural 
ones,  as  Mr.  Galloway  supposes — Again  :  Daniel,  in  his 
last  chapter,  speaks  of  three  different  periods  :  the  time 
times  and  a  half  which  he  had  already  mentioned  when 
treating  of  the  little  horn  ;  tzivelve  hundred  andninetij  days ; 
and  thirteen  hundred  and  thirty  foe  daijs.  Now,  if  these 
days  be  years,  the  three  years  and  a  half  must  be  years 
of  years  :  otherwise  Daniel  uses  tzvo  different  modes  of 
computation  in  the  same  passage,  and  thus  involves  his 
meaning  in  needless  uncertainty — Further  :  we  may 
fairly  conclude,  that,  as  a  prophet  expresses  a  given  pe- 
riod of  time  in  one  place  ;  so  he  would  express  the  same 
period  in  another  place,  if  he  should  have  occasion  to 
notice  it  again.  But  St.  John,  when  reallij  speaking  of 
three  natural  years  and  a  half,  terms  them  three  days  and 
a  half :%  consequently,  if  he  had  wished  to  inform  us 
that  the  woman  was  to  be  nourished  in  the  wilderness 
three  natural  years  and  a  half,  he  would  surely  have 

*  Rev.  xii.  6,  f  Ver.  H,  |  Rev.  xi.  0; 


116 

called  that  period  three  days  and  a  half^  not  a  time  times 
and  half  a  time — Once  more^  and  the  subject  shall  be  dis- 
missed :  Daniel  has  given  us  a  special  mark,  whereby  we 
may  know  when  the  three  years  and  a  half^  during  which 
the  little  horn  was  to  wear  out  the  saints  of  the  Most 
High,  shall  have  expired.  "  And  one  said  to  the  man 
clothed  in  linen,  which  was  upon  the  waters  of  the  river, 
Until  how  long  shall  be  the  end  of  the  ziDonders  I  And  1 
heard  the  man  clothed  in  linen,  which  was  upon  the  wa- 
ters of  the  river,  when  he  held  up  his  right  hand  and  his 
left  hand  unto  heaven,  and  sware  by  him  that  liveth  for 
ever,  that  it  shall  be  until  a  time,  times,  and  a  half;  and, 
when  he  shall  have  finished  to  scatter  the  power  of  the 
holy  people,  all  these  things  shall  be  fnished.'^*  It  ap- 
pears then,  that  the  three  years  and  a  half  were  to  expire, 
when  God  should  have  ceased  to  scatter  the  Jews,  whose 
restoration  Daniel  had  predicted  at  the  beginning  of  the 
chapter,  and  when  the  period  of  the  ivonders  should  be 
finished  :  in  other  words,  when  the  three  years  and  a 
half,  whether  natural  or  prophetic,  shall  have  expired, 
the  restoration  of  the  Jews  will  commence,  and  all  the 
wonders  comprehended  within  the  period  of  the  1260 
years  will  be  accomplished.  Now,  from  the  termination 
o^  the  three  years  and  a  half  during  which  religion  was 
put  down  by  law  in  France  (that  is  to  say,  from  the  lat- 
ter end  of  Mat^ch  1796»  vvhen  those  three  years  and  a 
Atf//" expired)  full  eight  years  have  elapsed  at  the  moment 
that  1  am  now  writing  :  consequently,  \^  those  three  years 
and  a  half  were  the  three  years  and  a  //«//*  in  tended  by 
Daniel,  the  restoration  of  the  Jews  would  have  commenc- 
ed, and  the  series  of  events,  predicted  under  the  seventh 
vial  and  at  the  close  of  the  1  \th  chapter  of  D(fniel,'\  as 
leadins:  to  the  destruction  of  the  tzvo  little  horns  [one  of 
them  upon  Mr.  Galloway's  scheme  revolutionary  France) 
and  of  some  kingdom  notorious  for  magnifying  itself  above 
every  god,  would  have  begun  to  be  ac(;omplished,  exactly 
when  those  three  years  and  a  half  eyL^\\ed.%     None  of 

*  Dan.  xii.  6,  7.  f  Dan.  xi.  40 — 45. 

\  That  the  se'uevih  -vial  did  not  then  be<!:in  to  be  poured  out,  is  manifest  indeed 
from  this  circumstance.  The  sixth  vial,  which  will  produce  the  downfall  of  the  Ot- 
toman empire,  remains  even  yet  to  be  pov.rcd  out  :  consequently  the  seventh  vial. 
which  succeeds  it,  cannot  have  begun  to  be  emptied  in  the  year  1796. 


117 

these  great  events  however  took  place  in  March  1796: 
it  fbllovvs  therefore,  as  a  necessary  consequence,  that  f/ie 
three  years  and  a  half  of  legalized  French  atheism,,  horri- 
ble as  were  the  enormities  of  the  then  miscreant  rulera 
of  the  infidel  repubhc,  cannot  be  the  time^  times,  and  a 
half,  during  which  the  little  horn  was  to  wear  out  the 
saints  oj^ the  Most  High. 

Having  now  sufficiently  pointed  out  what  I  conceive 
to  be  the  errors  of  Mr.  Kett  and  Mr.  Galloway,  1  shall 
endeavour  to  ascertain  the  true  interpretation  of  the  his- 
tory of  the  little  persecuting  horn,  which  was  to  spring  up 
out  oi  the  fourth  ox  Roman  beast. 

Upon  this  subject  1  heartily  agree  in  the  general  with 
Sir  Isaac  Newton,  Mr.  Mede,  and  Bp.  Newton  ;  though 
I  cannot  entirely  assent  to  their  precise  mode  of  exposi- 
tion. Ihe  points,  wherein  1  differ  from  them,  are  these  : 
their  supposition,  that  the  little  horn  means  the  temporal 
kingdom  of  the  Papactj  :  and  their  respective  interpreta- 
tions of  that  part  of  the  prophecy  which  relates  to  the 
eradication  oj  the  three  horns  before  the  little  horn. 

In  the  figurative  language  of  Scripture,  the  same  sym- 
bol, as  1  have  already  abundantly  shewn,  represents  both 
temporal  and  spiritual  things,  provided  only  those  things 
are  connected  with  each  other  by  a  common  leading  idea. 
Thus  a  star  typifies  either  a  prince  or  a  minister  of  relig- 
ion, the  one  being  in  the  state  what  the  other  is  in  the 
church :  whence  we  are  accustomed  familiarly  to  style 
both  a  king  and  a  ptiest,  in  their  different  capacities,  a 
shepherd  of  the  people.  In  a  similar  manner,  «  beast 
means  an  empire,  either  secular  or  ecclesiastical :  and  a 
mountain  denotes  a  kingdom  e\ther  temporal  or  spiritual.* 
By  a  parity  of  reasoning  therefore  the  present  symbol,  a 
horn,  signifies  either  a  temporal  or  an  ecclesiastical  king" 
dom.  Those  three  eminent  commentators  Sir  Isaac 
Newton,  Mr.  Mede,  and  Bp.  Newton,  adopt  the  former 
of  the  two  significations  ;  and  suppose  the  little  horn  of 
the  Roman  beast  to  mean  the  temporal  kingdom  of  the 
Papacy,  that  Italian  principality  which  bears  the  general 
name  of  The  States  of  the  Church  or  St.  Peter's  Patri- 
mony.    They  further  conceive,  that  the  Papacy  was  not 

-  Compare  Jeremiah  li.  25.  with  Ban.  ii.  35. 


118 

alittle  horn  till  it  acquired  this  prinripality  ;  and  that  it 
became  a  horn  by  the  subversion  of  the  three  horns  which 
Avere  destined  to  fail  before  it. 

To  this  scheme  there  appear  to  me  to  be  insuperable 
objections  :  it  will  not  accord  with  the  prophecy  itself  ; 
and  therefore,  as  we  might  naturally  expect,  it  will  not 
accord  with  the  events. 

1.  The  actions,  ascribed  to  the  little  horn.,  were  never 
performed  by  the  Pope.,  as  a  temporal  horn.,  as  the  sove- 
reign of  his  Italian  principalitij^  but  as  an  ecclesiastical 
pozcer. 

2.  The  little  horn  is  represented  by  the  prophet  as  be- 
ing alreadij  in  existence  previous  to  the  eradication  of  the 
three  horns  :  but  the  scheme  at  present  under  considera- 
tion supposes,  that  the  Papacy  became  a  horn  by  such 
eradication.  Now,  if  the  Papacy  only  became  a  horn  by 
the  eradication  of  the  three  horns.,  how  can  it  be  said  that 
those  three  horns.,  were  plucked  up  before  it,  or  that  the 
poioer  typified  by  the  little  hornshould  subdue  the  three 
powers  typified  by  the  three  horns,  when  at  that  vei*y  pe- 
riod, according  to  the  scheme,  the  papal  horn  was  not  as 
yet  in  existence  ?  The  prophecy  places  the  rise  of  the 
little  horn  before  the  eradication  of  the  thi^ee  horns  :  the 
scheme  supposes  it  to  rise  in  consequence  of  that  eradica- 
tion. Hence  it  is  manifest,  that  the  scheme  makes  the 
horn  both  to  exist  and  to  act,  previous  to  the  supposed 
date  of  its  existence. 

3.  The  contradiction  becomes  more  glaring  and  the 
difficulties  increase,  when  we  begin  to  consider  the  pe- 
riod of  three  times  and  a  half  ox  1260  years.  Daniel 
teaches  us,  ihat  the  saints  should  be  given  into  the  hand 
of  the  little  horn  during  that  space  of  time  :  whence  we 
may  naturally  conclude,  that  they  were  given  into  his 
hand  both  by  some  formal  deed,  and  by  some  specific 
person.  Now  Mr.  Mede  supposes  (with  what  propriety 
we  shall  hereafter  consider),  that  the  frst  of  the  three 
horns  was  plucked  up  in  the  ij car  727,  when  the  Pope 
caused  the  Italians  to  revolt  from  the  Emperor  Leo  :  yet 
he  hesitates  whether  to  date  the  1260  years  from  the  year 
36.5,  when  the  Goths  began  to  invade  the  Empire  ;  from 
the  year  410,  when   Alarac  sacked  Rome  :  or  from  the 


119 

year  455,  when  Valentinian  died,  whom  he  makes  to  be 
the  last  Emperor  of  the  West*  Independent  of  the 
confutation  which  all  these  opinions  respecting  the  date 
of  the  1260  years  have  received  from  the  event,  inde- 
pendent of  its  being  impossible  to  shew  how  the  saints 
were  given  into  the  hand  of  the  Pope  at  any  one  of  those 
eras,  who  can  avoid  observing  the  palpable  contradicto- 
riness  of  such  a  scheme  I  According  to  Mr.  Mede,  the 
little  horn  began  to  exist  in  the  year  727  :  but  the  saints 
were  given  into  the  hand  of  that  little  horn  about  the 
year  455  (for  that  is  the  date  which  he  seems  to  prefer) : 
in  other  words,  the  saints  were  given  into  his  hand  near 
three  centuries  before  he  began  to  exist.  The  scheme 
of  Bp.  Newton  leads  him  into  the  very  same  contradic- 
tion, though  he  rejects  all  Mr.  Mede's  dates,  having 
seen  his  theory  confuted  by  the  event.  He  supposes, 
that  the  first  of  the  three  horns  was  plucked  up  in  the 
year  755^  when  the  Pope  became  master  of  the  Exar^ 
chate  of  Ravenna^  and  consequently  that  the  little  horn 
then  began  to  exist  :  yet  he  is  inclined  to  date  the  1260 
years  from  the  year  727.t  Thus  he,  like  Mr.  Mede, 
dates  the  1260  years  from  an  era  when  by  his  own  ac- 
count the  little  horn  was  not  yet  in  existence  ;  and  from 
an  era  likewise  at  which  it  would  be  impossible  to  shew 
how  the  saints  were  given  up  to  the  little  horn,  even  sup- 
posing the  little  horn  had  then  first  begun  to  exist. 

On  these  grounds  1  am  rather  inclined  to  think,  that 
the  little  horn  typifies,  not  the  temporal,  but  the  spiritual, 
kingdom  of  the  Pope ;  that  tyrannical  ecclesiastical  dom- 
ination, which  at  first  was  only  a  small  and  harmless 
kingdom,  but  which  afterwards  became  a  pretended  cath- 
olic empire,  symbolized  in  the  Apocalypse  by  a  two-horn- 
ed Least  rising  up  out  of  the  earth  or  Roman  empire,  as 
the  little  horn  rises  up  out  of  the  ten-horned  beast.  In 
short  I  conceive,  that  the  little  horn  and  the  tzt^o-horned 

*  The  reason,  why  Mr.  Mede  dates  the  1^60 years  so  early,  is,  because  he  imagin- 
ed that  the  rise  of  the  man  of  sin  was  iminedtatd^)  to  succeed  the  downfall  of  the  Wes- 
tern empire,  or  that  ivhicb  letted.  The  little  hern  indeed  began  to  arise  along  with  the 
incursions  of  the  northern  nations  :  but  it  did  not  become  the  apostate  man  of  sin  till, 
the  saints  were  delivered  into  its  hand.  Accordingly  we  are  taught  by  Daniel  to 
date  the  laSO  years,  not  from  the  rise  of  the  little  horn,  but  from  the  commencement  of  its 
spiritiiai catMii  tyranny.    See  Mede's  Apostacy  of  the  latter  Times,  Part  I.  Chap.  14. 

*  Divsert.  XXVI.  3. 


120 

heast  represent  tlie  very  same  ecclesiastical  power  :  the 
one  symbolizing  that  power  at  its  first  rise,  and  describ- 
ing it  as  afterwards  having  a  look  more  stout  than  its  fel- 
lows and  as  influencing  the  actions  of  the  whole  ten-horn- 
ed beast  ;*  the  other  symbolizing  it,  when  it  had  grown 
up  into  a  catholic  empire  by  having  had  the  saints  deliv- 
ered into  its  hand.  Hence  we  find,  that  Daniel,  who, 
largely  describes  the  little  horn,  makes  no  mention  of  the 
two-horned  beast  :  while  St.  John,  who  as  largely  de- 
scribes the  tzco-horned  beast  styling  him  a  false  prophet, 
makes  no  mention  of  the  little  horn. 

I  have  asserted,  that  the  little  horn,  at  its  first  rise  a- 
mong  the  ten  other  horns,  was  harmless.  This  appears 
both  from  the  prophecy,  and  from  the  accomplishment 
of  the  prophecy.  The  little  horn  was  already  in  exist- 
ence when  the  saints  were  delivered  into  his  hand :  but 
the  apostacif  oi  the  1260  days  did  not  commence  in  its 
dominant  state  till  the  era  of  their  being  so  delivered  : 
consequently  the  little  horn  was  already  in  existence  be- 
fore the  beginning  of  the  apostacy  :  that  is  to  say,  it  ex- 
isted as  a  horn  previous  to  its  existence  as  an  apostate 
horn.  The  spiritual  kingdom  of  the  Pope  sprung  up  af- 
ter the  Empire  had  become  Christian,  or  during  the  pe- 
riod of  what  St.  John  styles  its  non-existence  as  a  beast.\ 
When  the  ancient  pagan  beast,  \\\'dX.  had  been  wounded  to 
death  by  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  revived,  and  set 
up  an  idolatrous  spiritual  tyrant  in  the  Church  by  con- 
stituting Boniface  the  third  Universal  Bishop  ;  then  were 
the  saints  delivered  into  the  hand  of  the  little  horn  ;  then 
did  the  little  horn  begin  to  have  a  look  more  stout  than 
his  fellows  ;  then  did  the  universal  spiritual  empire  of 
the  Pope  commence.  This  happened  in  the  year  606  : 
consequently  I  esteem  this  year  the  most  probable  date 
o{  the  1260  daifs. 

The  errors,  that  have  arisen  from  not  attending  to  the 
plain  language  of  Daniel  relative  to  the  date  of  that  pe- 
riod are  almost  endless.     Scarcely  any  commentator  has 

*  "  I  beheld  then  because  of  the  voice  of  the  great  words  which  the  horn  spake  : 
1  beheld  even  till  the  beast  was  slain."     Dan.vii.  11. 

f  "  The  beast,  that  was,  and  is  not,  and  yet  is."  (Rev.  xvii.  8.)  Ths  diaib  and 
revival  of  the  Roman  beast  will  be  discussed  at  large  hereafter. 


iSi 

paid  the  least  regard  to  the  special  badge  of  the  date  :  on 
the  contrary,  most  have  wearied  themselves  with  seek- 
ing for  some  imaginary  period  of  the  rise  of  the  little 
Jiorn.*  Daniel  however  explicitly  informs  us,  that  we  are 
to  date  the  1260  dai/s  from  no  one  era  but  this  :  the  year, 
in  which  the  saints  were  given  into  the  hand  of  the  little 
horn  then  already  in  existence. -j*  Now,  the  giving  the 
saints  into  his  hand  by  no  means  implies,  that  he  immedi- 
atelij  began  to  persecute  them,  but  only  that  the  power 
of  persecution  was  then  conferred  upon  him,  that  he  was 
constituted  their  universal  spiritual  superior.  Hence  it 
is  evident,  that,  would  we  know  the  date  in  question,  we 
must  learn  in  what  year  this  ecclesiastical  poicer  was  for- 
mally conferred  upon  the  little  horn.     It  certainly  can- 

*  The  falsehood  of  many  of  these  computations  has  been  already  shewn  by  the 
event  :  had  the  plain  language  of  Daniel  been  attended  to,  they  would  never  have 
been  made.     See  Mede's  Works.     Book  III.  Chap.  10. 

f  I  am  aware,  that  Sir  Isaac  Newton  supposes,  that  it  was  not  the  saints  who  were 
delivered  into  the  hand  of  the  little  horn  during  the  1 260  years,  but  the  times  and  laius. 
Now  it  is  not  only  impossible  to  point  out  any  specific  season  when  the  times  and  laws 
were  delivered  formally  into  his  hand,  which  the  passage  obviously  requires  -.  but 
such  an  opinion  is  totally  irreconcileable  with  the  parallel  context  of  the  Revelation. 
The  saints,  mentioned  by  Daniel,  are  manifestly  the  same  as  the  apocalyptic  -witnesses 
Bnd  as  the  persecuted  Church  in  the  ■wilderness.  But  the  apocalyptic  zuitnesses  were  to 
prophesy  in  sackcloth,  and  the  Church  was  to  flee  from  the  attack  of  the  dragon,  each 
during  the  period  of  1 260  years  :  hence  it  is  clear,  that  the  saints,  not  the  times  and  laws, 
were  to  be  given  into  the  hand  of  the  little  hom  during  the  very  same  space  of  thres 
prophetic  years  and  a  half.  The  identity  of  the  numbers  sufficiently  shews  that  they 
refer  to  the  same  persons  :  but  the  apocalyptic  \2QQ) years  refer  to  the  calamitous  proph- 
tsying  of  the  -witnesses  and  the  desolation  of  the  true  Church  ;  therefore  the  three  times  and  a 
half  of  Daniel  must  refer  to  the  -wearing  out  of  the  saints,  not  surely  to  the  changing  of 
times  and  laii-s.  \n  short,  the  deli-uering  of  the  sai/its  into  the  hand  of  the  little  horn  during 
three  prophetic  years  and  a  half  is  clearly  the  same  event,  as  the  causing  of  the  -zuitnesses  to 
prophesy  in  sackcloth  by  gi-'oing  the  outer  court  of  the  temple  and  the  holy  city  to  the  gentiles  (or 

those  Christians  who  had  relapsed  into  the  idolatrous  abominations  of  gentilism)  dur- 
ing 42  months.      The  degenerate  church  however,  and  along   with  it  the  faithful  -zuitnesses, 

were  then  first  given  into  the  hand  o^the  little  horn,  when  the  Pope  was  declared  to  be 
tJni-versal  Bishop  and  Supreme  Head  of  the  Church.  It  is  almost  superfluous  to  remind 
the  reader,  that  three  years  and  a  half  42  months,  and  \'260days,  are  all  the  same  peri- 
od. (Compare  Dan.  vii.  25.  with  Rev.  xi.  2,  3.  xii.  6,  14.  and  xiii.  5,  7.)  I  may 
properly  add,  at  the  conclusion  of  this  note,  that,  even  if  Sir  Isaac  Newton's  suppo- 
sition be  adopted,  the  dates  fixed  upon  by  Mr.  Mede  and  Bp.  Newton  for  the  com- 
mencement of  the  1260  years  wlW  be  equally  irreconcileable  with  their  opinion  that  the 
Papacy  became  a  horn  by  the  eradication  of  the  three  horns.  The  times  and  la-ius  could 
no  more  be  dehvered  into  the  hand  of  the  little  horn  previous  to  the  period  of  its  be- 
ginning to  exist,  than  the  saints  could.  I  write  this  however  not  as  in  the  least  hesi- 
tating respecting  what  I  have  said  of  Sir  Isaac's  acceptation  of  the  passage  in  ques- 
tion. Since  the  apocalyptic  zuitnesses  are  manifestly  the  same  as  the  saints  mentioned  by 
Daniel,  and  since  those  witnesses  were  to  prophesy  in  sackcloth  1 260  days  ;  what  was 
delivered  into  the  hand  of  the  little  horn  during  the  self-same  space  of  three  yi<*rs  and  a 
balfxa.\xs\.  undoubtedly  be  the  saints,  not  the  times  and  la-ws, 

VOL.  I.  16 


122^ 

not  be  said  to  have  been  conferred  eithef,  by  the  down- 
fall of  the  Western  empire^  by  the  revolt  of  the  Pope  from 
the  Greek  Emperor^  or  by  his  acquisition  of  the  Exar- 
chute.  In  all  these  events  we  can  discover  nothing  like 
any  delivering  of  the  saints  into  his  hand.  But,  vvhea 
we  find,  that  in  the  ijear  606  Phocas  the  usurper  of  the 
Constantinopolitan  throne  constituted  him  Universal 
Bishop  and  supreme  head  of  the  Churchy  declaring  that 
in  spirituals  all  the  churches  were  subject  to  him,  we  can 
clearly  see  that  at  that  particular  era  the  saints  were  sub- 
jected to  an  imperious  master,  that  they  were  given  into 
the  hand  of  the  little  horn  now  become  a  great  empire. 
If  then  the  saints  were  given  into  his  hand  at  that  par- 
ticular time,  (and  I  know  not  any  more  probable*  era 
than  this  that  can  be  pitched  upon  for  such  an  event,) 
the  little  horn  must  at  that  time  have  been  already  in  ex- 
istence ;  but,  if  we  suppose  that  this  symbol  denotes  the 
temporal  kingdom  of  the  Papacy,  that  was  not  as  yet  in 
existence,  for  the  Pope  had  not  then  either  throvt'n  off 
his  allegiance  to  the  Greek  Emperor^  or  acquired  the 
Exarchate  of  Ravenna.  The  little  horn  however,  ac- 
cording to  the  prophecy,  was  not  merely  to  begin  to  exist 
when  the  saints  were  given  into  his  hand,  but  was  o/- 
readtj  to  have  been  in  existence  an  indefinite  period  of 
time.  Such  being  the  case,  it  certainly  cannot  symbol- 
ize the  temporal  kingdom  of  the  Papacy :  and,  if  it  do 
not  symbolize  its  temporal  kingdom^  I  know  not  what  it 
can  symbolize  except  its  spiritual  kingdom. 

We  have  seen,  that  the  little  horn  was  to  arise  pre- 
vious to  the  commencement  of  the  Apostacij  of  1560 
years  when  the  Roman  beast  revived,  and  therefore  that 
it  was  to  arisp  during  the  time  that  the  beast  lay  dead. 
Daniel  accordingly  teaches  us,  that  it  was  to  come  up 
among  the  ten  frst  horns  into  which  the  Empire  should 
be  divided  by  the  incursions  of  the  northern  nations. 
Now  the  first  of  these  kingdoms,  that  of  the  Huns^  arose 
about   the  year  356  ;  and  the  last  of  them,  that  of  the 

*  There  is  another  era,  which  is  possible,  though  (I  think)  not  prohable  ;  namely 
ihe  year  1?>1,  when  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope  was  acknowledged  by  the  second  coun- 
cil of  Nice.  This  matter  will  be  discussed  more  largely  hereafter  ;  meanwhile  I  wish 
it  fully  to  be  understood,  that  I  pitch  upon  the  year  606,  only  as  appearing  to  me  the 
most  probable  date.    The  event  alone  will  enable  us  to  attain  to  absolute  certainty. 


123 

Lombards^  about  the  year  483  in  the  north  of  Germany, 
and  about  the  year  b^^  in  Hungary.  We  must  look 
therefore  for  the  gradual  rise  of  the  little  horn^  by  which 
I  think  we  are  obliged  to  understand  the  spiritual  king- 
dom of  the  Popc^  between  the  years  356  and  59,6.  As 
for  the  temporal  kingdom  of  t lie  Pope,,  it  did  not  come 
up  among  the  first  ten  horns,  as  Bp.  Newton  himself  al- 
lows, who  is  thence  obliged  to  construct  a  catalogue  of 
ten  kingdoms,  not  suited  to  the  primitive  division  of  the 
Empire,  but  to  tlie  eighth  cent ur if  :  the  temporal  king- 
dom of  the  Pope  therefore  cannot  be  intended  by  the 
little  horn.  But  the  spiiitual  kingdom  of  the  Pope  arose 
precisely  at  this  period.  In  the  primitive  Church,  the 
authority  of  the  Bishops  of  Rome  extended  not  beyond 
their  own  diocese  :  precedence  only  was  allowed  to 
them  in  general  councils  by  reason  of  the  imperial  city 
being  their  see.  This  precedence  of  honour  was  gradu- 
ally enlarged  into  a  precedence  of  authority.  Still  how- 
ever no  direct  right  could  be  claimed,  for  the  Church 
was  not  as  yet  supported  by  the  secular  arm.  But,  af- 
ter the  conversion  of  the  Empire  to  Christianity,  great 
privileges  were  conferred  upon  the  more  dignified  sees, 
especially  upon  that  of  Rome.  Sir  Isaac  Newton  has 
given  a  very  minute  detail  of  the  gradual  rise  of  this  spir- 
itual power  ;  and  the  first  special  edict,  that  he  mentions 
as  being  made  in  its  favour,  bears  date  either  the  end  of 
the  year  378,  or  the  beginning  of  the  year  379-  This 
edict  gives  the  Church  of  Rome  the  right  of  deciding  ap- 
peals in  all  doubtful  cases  that  concerned  the  western 
bishoprics.  Sir  Isaac  accordingly  dates  very  properly  the 
commencement  of  the  Papers  spiritual  jurisdiction  from 
it.  This  power  however  constituted  but  a  very  small 
kingdom  compared  to  that  which  was  afterwards  erected 
upon  its  foundations.  The  irruption  of  the  northern 
tribes  which  at  first  seemed  likely  to  involve  every  thing 
in  ruin  and  confusion,  and  the  previous  transfer  of  the 
seat  of  government  from  Rome  to  Constantinople,  jointly 
contributed  to  increase  the  authority  of  the  Roman  bish- 
op. "  While  this  ecclesiastical  dominion  was  rising  up," 
says  Sir  Isaac,  "  the  northern  barbarous  nations  invaded 
the  Western  empire,  and  founded  several  kingdoms  there? 


124. 

in  of  different  religions  from  the  Churcli  of  Rome.  But 
these  kingdoms  by  degrees  embraced  tiie  Roman  faith, 
and  at  the  same  time  submitted  to  the  Pope's  authority. 
The  Franks  in  Gaul  submitted  in  the  end  o{  the  fifth 
century  ;  the  Goths  in  Spain,  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  ; 
and  the  Lombards  in  Italy  were  conquered  by  Charles 
the  great  in  the  year  774-  Between  the  years  77 o  and 
794,  the  same  Charles  extended  the  Pope's  authority 
over  all  Germany  and  Hungary  as  far  as  the  river  Theysse 
and  the  Baltic  sea.  He  then  set  him  above  all  human 
judicature;  and  at  the  same  time  assisted  him  in  subdu- 
ing the  city  and  dutchy  of  Rome."*  The  manner,  in 
■which  the  little  horn  almost  insensibly  arose,  after  the 
transfer  of  the  seat  of  government,  and  during  the  dark 
period  of  Gothic  invasion,  is  similarly  described  by  Ma- 
chiavel.  Having  shewn  how  the  Roman  empire  was  di- 
vided by  the  incursions  of  the  northern  nations,  he  ob- 
serves, "  About  this  time  the  Bishops  of  Rome  began  to 
take  upon  them,  and  to  exercise  greater  authority  than 
they  had  formerly  done.  At  first,  the  successors  of  St. 
Peter  were  venerable  and  eminent  for  their  miracles, 
and  the  holiness  of  their  lives  ;  and  their  examples  add- 
ed daily  such  numbers  to  the  Christian  church,  that, 
to  obviate  or  remove  the  confusions  which  were  then  in 
the  world,  many  princes  turned  Christians  :  and  the  Em- 
peror of  Rome  being  converted  among  the  rest,  and  quit- 
ting Rome  to  hold  his  residence  at  Constantinople,  the 
Roman  empire  began  to  decline,  but  the  church  of  Rome 
augmented  as  fast."|  After  this  he  shews  how  the  Ro- 
man empire  declined,  and  how  the  power  of  the  Church 
of  Rome  increased,  first  under  the  Ostrogoths,  then  un- 
der the  Lombards,  and  lastly  under  the  Franks.  I  have 
borrowed  the  preceding  very  apposite  citation  from  Bp. 
Newton,  who  somewhat  singularly,  according  to  his 
scheme,  adduces  it  to  shew  the  springing  up  of  the  lit- 
tle horn  among  the  ten  other  horns ;  and  yet,  after  hav- 
ing adduced  it,  declares  no  less  singularly,  so  far  as  the  pro- 
priety of  the  citation  is  concerned,  that  the  Bishop  of  Rome 
did  not  become  a  horn  till  he  became  a  temporal  prince, 

'"  Observ.  on  Dan.  Chap.  viii. 

f  Hist,  of  Florence,  B.  1.  p.  C.  cited  by  Bp.  Ntwton,- 


125 

Now,  \{  the  Bishop  of  Rome  did  not  become  a  horn  till 
he  became  a  temporal  prince^  the  citation,  which  speaks 
of  the  fourth,  fifths  sixth,  and  seventh,  centuries,  certain- 
ly cannot  shew  the  rise  of  a  horn,  which,  according  to 
his  Lordship's  scheme,  did  not  begin  to  exist  till  the  mid- 
dle of  the  eighth  centur?/  :  but,  if  we  consider  the  little 
horn  as  typifying  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  the  Papacij, 
nothing  can  be  more  to  the  point  than  the  citation  from 
Machiavel  ;  for  it  decidedly  shews,  that  such  a  kingdom 
arose  from  very  small  beginnings  among  the  ten  horns 
precisely  at  the  time  when  Daniel  had  predicted  that  it 
should  arise.  I  shall  conclude  this  account  of  the  rise 
o{  the  papal  horn  with  Mr.  Gibbon's  description  of  its 
state  at  the  close  of  the  sixth  and  at  the  beginning  of 
the  seventh  century,  immediately  before  the  ecclesiastical 
kingdom  became  an  ecclesiastical  catholic  empire.  "  The 
pontificate  of  Gregory  the  great  lasted  thirteen  years, 
six  months,  and  ten  days — In  his  rival,  the  patriarch  of 
Constantinople,  he  condemned  the  Antichristian  title  of 
Universal  Bishop^  which,  the  successor  of  St.  Peter  was 
too  haughty  to  concede,  and  too  feeble  to  assume  ;  and 
the  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  of  Gregory  was  confined 
to  the  triple  character  of  Bishop  of  Rome,  Primate  of 
Jtalij,  and  Apostle  of  the  West — The  bishops  of  Italy 
and  the  adjacent  islands  acknowledged  the  Roman  pon- 
tiff ^%  their  special  metropolitan.  Even  the  existence, 
the  union,  or  the  translation,  of  the  episcopal  seats,  was 
decided  by  his  absolute  discretion  :  and  his  successful 
inroads  inroads  into  the  provinces  of  Greece,  of  Spain, 
and  of  Gaul,  might  countenance  the  more  lofty  preten- 
sions of  succeeding  Popes.  He  interposed  to  prevent 
the  abuses  of  popular  elections  ;  his  jealous  care  main- 
tained the  purity  of  faith  and  discipline;  and  the  apos- 
tolic shepherd  assiduously  watched  over  the  faith  and 
discipline  of  the  subordinate  pastors.  Under  his  reign, 
the  Arians  of  Italy  and  Spain  were  reconciled  to  the 
catholic  church  ;  and  the  conquest  of  Britain  reflects 
less  glory  on  the  name  of  Cesar,  than  on  that  of  Gregory 
the  first.  Instead  of  six  legions,  forty  monks  were  em- 
barked for  that  distant  island  ;  and  the  pontiff  lamented 
the  austere  duties,  which  forbade  him  to  partake  the 


IS6 

perils  of  their  spiritual  warfare.  In  less  than  two  years 
he  could  announce  to  the  Archbishop  of  Alexandria, 
that  they  had  baptized  the  king  of  Kent  with  ten  thou- 
sand of  his  Anglo-Saxons,  and  that  the  Roman  mis- 
sionaries, like  those  of  the  primitive  Church,  were  armed 
only  with  spiritual  and  supernatural  powers/'*  Such 
was  the  power  of  f/?e  little  horn  immediately  previous 
to  its  apostacy  in  the  ijear  606,  when  it  was  declared  to 
be  an  unroersal  empire  under  a  Bishop  of  bishops^  and 
when  the  saints  were  thus  formally  delivered  into  its 
hand.  How  great,  even  before  the  commencement  of 
the  1260  daifs^  was  its  authority  become,  compared  with 
what  it  had  been,  when  the  Pope  was  only  Archbishop 
<>f  the  neighbouring  Italian  bishops^  and  ecclesiastical 
judge  in  cases  of  appeal  from  the  other  bishops  of  the 
Western  empire  !  As  yet  however  the  man  of  sin^  the 
head  of  the  great  Apostacif,  was  not  revealed.  Gregory 
equally  abhorred  idolatry,  persecution,  and  the  proud 
claim  of  universal  episcopacy  :  and  it  was  left  to  his  suc- 
cessors formally  to  re-establish  the  worship  of  images,  to 
wear  out  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  and  to  assume 
the  metropolitanship,  not  only  of  Italy  and  the  West, 
but  of  the  whole  world. f  Though  tinctured  with  the 
growing  superstition  of  the  age,  his  piety  was  fervent  and 
sincere  :  and  this  last  of  the  primitive  Bishops  of  Rome 
was  snatched  away  to  a  better  world,  ere  the  monstrous 
hoof  old  dominant  Apostacif  of  the  East  and  the  West 
had  commenced.  His  death  w^as,  as  it  were,  the  signal 
for  its  developement. 

Thus  we  have  seen,  that  the  little  horn  cannot  typify 
the  temporal  kingdom  of  the  Pope^  because  it  is  present- 
ed as  springing  up,  as  existing,  and  as  diCXm^^ previous  to 
the  time  when  the  three  horns  were  eradicated  before  it, 
and  consequently  previous  to  the  time  when  it  acquired 
by  their  fall  St.  Peter^s  pat?'i?noni/.  Its  acquisition  of 
temporal  authority  is  indeed  distinctly  predicted  in  that 
part  of  the  prophecy  which  relates  to  the  subversion  of 
the  three  horns  :  but  this  is  mentioned  as  it  were  only 
by  the  bye,  only  as  a  mark  whereby  we  might  certainly 

*   Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  vm.  p.  1G4— 167. 
••}:  This  subject  wiJl  be  resumed  hereafter. 


IT/ 

iinovv  the  power  typified  by  t/ie  lit  fie  horn.  The  power- 
in  question  was  gradually  to  arise  during  the  turbulent 
period  of  Gothic  invasion  :  and,  ajier  it  had  existed  an 
indefinite  space  of  time,  the  prophet  teaches  us  that 
t/it^ee  horns  should  be  plucked  up  before  it,  by  the  fall 
of  which  it  should  acquire  temporal  dominion.  Hence  it 
is  plain,  that,  since  the  little  horn  was  to  be  in  existence 
previous  to  its  acquisition  of  temporal  dominion  by  the 
successive  eradication  of  the  three  horns,  it  cannot  have 
been  designed  to  symbolize,  as  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  Mr. 
Mede,  and  Bp.  Newton,  suppose,  the  Papacy  considered 
as  a  secular  principality . 

This  will  appear  yet  more  evident,  when  we  examine 
the  prophetic  character  of  the  little  horn  article  by  arti- 
cle. 

1 .  The  little  horn  was  not  only  to  be  a  small  kingdom 
at  its  first  rise^  but  it  zvas  to  be  different  from  all  the 
other  horns — ^Accordingly  every  one  of  the  ten  kingdoms^ 
founded  by  the  northern  nations,  were  temporal  sover- 
eignties :  but  the  papal  horn  was  a  spiritual  sovereignty. 
And  afterwards,  when  it  had  acquired  a  secular  princi' 
pality  by  the  fall  of  three  of  the  ten  temporal  horns,  it 
still  continued  to  differ  essentially  from  them,  being  an 
ecclesiastical  and  spiritual,  as  well  as  a  civil  and  tempo- 
ral power. 

2.  The  little  horn  had  eyes  like  the  eyes  of  a  man — ■ 
This  particular,  like  the  former,  serves  to  shew,  that  a 
spiritual,  not  a  temporal,  kingdom  was  intended  by  the 
symbol.  "  By  its  eyes  it  vvas  a  seer  ;  and  by  its  mouth 
speaking  great  things  and  changing  times  and  lavys  it 
was  a  prophet — A  seer,  Eirianozog,  is  a  bishop  in  the  lit- 
eral sense  of  the  word  ;  and  this  church  claims  the  uni- 
versal bishopric.''*  At  its  first  rise  indeed,  it  presumed 
not  to  make  so  bold  a  claim  :  still  nevertheless  it  was 
equally  a  seer,  or  a  bishop,  within  its  own  proper  diocese 
and  raetropolitanship. 

3.  The  little  horn  had  a  mouth  speaking  great  things — 
In  his  pretended  capacity  of  a  prophet  and  vicar  of 
Christ,  and  in  the  plenitude  of  his   usurped  power,  the 

*  sir  Isaac  Newtofl's  Obseir.  on  Dan.  Chap.  7. 


128 

JBishop  of  Rome  has  at  various  times  anathematized  all 
who  dared  to  oppose  him,  has  laid  whole  kingdoms  un- 
der an  interdict,  has  excommunicated  kings  and  empe- 
rors, and  has  absolved  their  subjects  from  their  allegi- 
ance. 

4.  The  little  horn  had  a  look  more  stout  than  his  fel- 
lows—  The  Popes  have  claimed  an  unlimited  superiority 
over  other  bishops  their  equals,  in  spiritual  matters  ;  and 
have  affected  greater  authority  than  even  sovereign 
princes,  in  temporal  matters.  "  Pope  Paul  the  fourth," 
says  the  historian  of  the  council  of  Trent,  "never  spake 
with  ambassadors,  but  he  thundered  in  their  ears,  that  he 
was  above  all  princes,  that  he  would  not  that  any  of 
them  should  be  too  domestical  with  him,  that  he  could 
exchange  kingdoms,  that  he  was  successor  of  him  who 
had  deposed  kings  and  emperors,  and  did  often  repeat 
that  he  had  made  Ireland  a  kingdom."*  The  Popes  in- 
deed have  pretended,  that  the  dominion  of  the  whole 
earth  belonged  to  them  :  and,  strictly  acting  up  to  this 
claim,  they  have  gone  so  far  as  to  divide  all  new  discov- 
ered countries  between  Spain  and  Portugal,  assigning  to 
the  one  the  western,  and  to  the  other  the  eastern,  he- 
misphere. 

6.  The  little  horn  spake  great  toords  hij  the  side  of  the 
Most  High,  affecting  an  equalitij  with  God — So  the 
Popes  have  not  scrupled  to  lay  claim  to  infallibility,  an 
especial  attribute  of  God  ;  and  have  sometimes  blasphe- 
mously assumed  even  the  name  of  God  himself,  and  as 
such  have  impiously  received  divine  honours,  i^ccord- 
ingly  they  are  not  offended  at  being  styled,  Our  Lord 
God  the  Pope  ;  another  God  upon  earth  ;  king  of  kings^ 
and  lord  of  lords ;  nor  do  they  disapprove  of  the  impi- 
ous flattery,  which  tells  them,  that  the  same  is  the  domin- 
ion of  God  and  the  Pope  ;  that  the  power  of  the  Pope 
is  greater  than  all  created  power,  extending  itself  to 
things  celestial,  terrestrial,  and  infernal ;  and  ihnX.  the 
Pope  doeth  wltatsoever  he  listelh,  even  things  unlaifuly 
and  is  more  than  God  :  nor  yet  do  they  refuse,  on  the 
day  of  their  election,  to  receive  the  adoration  of  their 

*  Cited  by  Dr.  Zouch,  p.  176. 


129 

cardinals  on  the  very  altar,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  tem- 
ple, of  the  Lord  of  hosts.* 

*  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  xxii.  S.  The  other  divine  titles,  by  which  thai  man  ef 
sin,  the  apostate  Bishop  of  Rome,  suffers  himself  to  be  hailed,  are  Our  most  Holy  Lord  ; 
our  Lord  God  the  Pope  ;  his  divi/ie  Majesty  ;  the  •victoriot/s  God  and  man  in  his  see  of  Rome  ; 
Deus  optimus  maximus  and  Vice-God  ;  named  God  by  the  pious  emperor  Constantine,  and 
adored  as  God  by  that  emperor  ;  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  aivay  the  sins  of  the  "world  ; 
the  most  holy  luho  carrieth  the  most  holy.  (Whitaker's  Comment,  p.  304.)  Lord  Lyt- 
telton  observes  of  the  age  of  Henry  II.  that  "  those  times  thought  it  no  blasphemy 
to  give  to  the  Pope  the  honour  of  God ;"  and  he  instances  it  in  a  curious  letter  of  the 
turbulent  Becket  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  wherein  he  implores  the  aid  of  the  Pope 
in  phrases  of  Scripture  appropriated  to  God.  Rise,  Lord,  and  delay  no  longer  ;  let 
the  light  of  thy  countenance  shine  upon  me  ;  save  us  for  we  perish ;  not  unto  us,  O 
Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  make  unto  thyself  a 
great  name."  (Ibid.  p.  302,  303.)  A  singular  story  is  told  by  Baronius  respecting 
the  idolatry  thus  paid  to  the  person  of  the  Bishop  nf  Rome.  In  the  year  1162,  "  when 
Pope  Alexander  made  his  first  entrance  into  Montpellier,  among  the  Christian  no- 
bility that  attended  him  on  his  way  in  a  solemn  procession  there  was  a  Saracen  prince 
or  emir,,  who  reverently  came  up  to  him,  and  kissed  his  feet,  he  being  on  horseback  ; 
then  knelt  down  before  him,  and  bowing  his  head  adored  him  as  the  holy  and  good 
God  of  the  Christians.  He  does  not  tell  us,  that  Alexander  in  any  manner  reproved 
him  for  his  blasphemous  error  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  takes  notice  that  he  shewed 
him  extraordinary  kindness :  and  adds,  that  all  who  saw  it,  were  filled  with  great 
admiration,  and  applied  to  the  Pope  the  words  of  the  prophet  David  :  All  the  kings 
of  the  earth  shall  ivorship  him,  and  all  nations  shall  ser-ve  him.  Thus,  in  that  age  of  igno- 
rance and  credulity  did  superstition  even  deify  the  Bishop  of  Rome  :  but  it  is  a  still 
more  shocking  impiety,  that  a  learned  cardinal,  who  lived  in  the  17 th  century,  should 
relate  such  a  fact  witjiout  expressing  the  least  disapprobation  of  it  ;  nay,  rather  with 
an  air  of  complacency  and  applause."  (Ibid.  p.  273,  274.)  "  Even  to  this  day  the 
Romanists  continue  the  blasphemous  practice  of  calling  the  Pope  the  Lord  God,  as  ap- 
pears from  a  confession  of  faith  found  in  the  pocket  of  a  priest  during  the  late  re- 
bellion in  Ireland,  and  reported  by  Sir  R.  Musgrave."  (Ibid.  p.  357.)  In  short,  the 
sentiments  which  the  Romanists  entertain  of  their  idol  the  Pope,  and  the  manner,  in 
which  he  speaks  great  words  by  the  side  of  the  Most  High,  affecting  an  equaUty 
witli  God,  are  shewn  very  remarkably  by  a  print  in  the  Roman  Breviary  published 
by  the  authority  of  the  council  of  Trent,  and  printed  at  Antwerp  in  the  year  1698. 
In  this  print,  vs'hich  is  placed  opposite  to  p.  413.  of  the  Breviary,  "  there  is  a  repre- 
sentation of  heaven  opened  to  full  view,  in  which,  seated  upon  a  cloud,  appeareth 
the  Pope  with  his  triple  crown  upon  his  head.  The  Pope's  head  is  irradiated  with  a 
triangular,  not  a  circular,  glory  (expressive  no  doubt  of  the  Trinity  in  Unity  ;)  the 
dove  is  hovering  over  the  heads  of  him  and  our  Saviour,  but  more  inclined  to-zvard  the 
Pope.  The  Pope  sits  upright  upon  the  globe  nf  the  earth,  ivith  his  feet  fidl  upon  it.  Our 
Saviour  is  seated  upon  his  right  hand,  pushed  as  it  luere  from  off  the  earth,  "whereby  he  is 
obliged  to  sit  sideiuays  in  order  to  reach  his  feet  to  it  ;  and  round  our  Saviour's  head  is  only  a 
small  circular  glory.  Beneath,  on  one  side,  next  to  our  Saviour  in  heaven,  is  the  Vir- 
gin Mary,  whom  the  Pope  deifies  upon  earth,  praying  to  her.  Next  to  the  Virgin 
Mary  is  represented  St.  Peter  ;  and  close  by  him,  upon  a  level,  is  St.  Paul  sitting 
and  leaning  upon  a  sword.  In  the  middle  are  little  Chp;ubim,  and  behind  them  a 
palm-bearing  company.  On  the  right  hand  is  a  smaller  group  of  palm-bearers,  seem- 
ing employed  in  carrying  messages.  Beneath,  on  the  earth,  are  represented  warriors 
on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  the  elders  of  their  church.  In  the  middle  stand- 
eth  one  bearing  a  palm,  conversing  with  another  before  whom  the  triple  crowm  is 
placed,  deeply  shaded,  and  only  a  fev/  rays  of  light  descend  upon  the  top  of  it. 
This  is  the  political  representation  of  the  idol  of  Rome,  the  Pope,  in  the  plenitude  of 
his  power,  as  given  to  its  votaries,  and  authori,',ed  by  the  council  of  Trent,  and  con- 
firmed by  several  Popes  of  Rome."  Burton's  F.ssav  on  the  numbers  of  Dajiicl  and  St. 
John  ;  Supplement ;  p.  ^Q,  97. 

VOL.    T.  17 


130 

6.  The  Utile  horn  thought  to  change  times  and  laws — * 
So  the  Popes  have  perpetually  changed  the  calender  by 
the  canonization  of  new  saints,  and  have  depaiied  from 
the  original  simplicity  of  the  Gospel  by  the  introduction 
of  an  infinite  number  of  superstitious  laws  and  observ- 
ances ;  "  instituting  new  modes  of  worship,  imposing 
new  articles  of  faith,  enjoining  new  rules  of  practice, 
and  reversing  at  pleasure  the  laws  both  of  God  and 
man.' *  fhey  have  even  dared  to  strike  the  second 
commandment  out  of  the  decalogue,  because  it  so  plain- 
ly reproved  them  for  their  multifarious  idolatry.  In 
short,  "the  wisest  and  most  impartial  of  the  Roman  ca- 
tholic writers  do  not  only  acknowledge,  but  are  even  at 
pains  to  demonstrate,  that  from  the  times  of  Louis  the 
meek,  who  died  in  the  i/ear  8  iO,  the  ancient  rules  of 
ecclesiastical  government  were  gradually  changed  in 
Europe  by  the  counsels  of  the  court  of  Rome,  and  new 
laws  substituted  in  their  placej*." 

7.  The  little   horn  icas  to  wear  out  the  saints  of  the 
Most  High,  zcho  were  to  be  given  into  his  hand  bij  ajor- 
7nal  grant  of  the  secular  power  during  the  space  of  three 
years  and  a  half  or  1200  prophetic  daifs ;  that  is  to  say, 
during  the  same  space  of  time,  that  the  two  apocalijpiic 
ivitnesses   were  to   prophesy  in  sackcloth,  and  the  perse- 
cuted Church  was  to  be  nourished  in  the  wilderness. J — 
Accordingly,  when  tJie  Pope  was  constituted  Universal 
Bishop  and  Supreme  head  of  the  Church  by  the  grant  of 
the  tyrant  Phocas,  the  saints  of  God  were  delivered  into 
his  hand  and  placed  under  his   control.     They  were   no 
longer,  as  in  the  primitive  Church,  subject,  and  that  for 
conscience  sake  and  for  the  real  edification  of  their  souls, 
only  to  their  respective  diocesans  :    but  they  were  now 
made  the   spiritual  vassals  of  the  man  of  sin,  and  were 
in  consequence  of  it  soon  reduced  by  him  to  a  state  of 
worse  than  Egyptian  bondage.      By  the  instrumentality 
of    the  secular  beast,^   he   has  already,  for  by  far   the 
greater  part  of  the  predicted  period,  incessantly  persecut- 
ed and  worn  out  (so  far  as  this  present  life  is  concerned) 

*  See  Mosheim's  Eccles.  Kist.  Vol  iii.  p.  260—264. 
•f:  Zouch  on  Prophecy,  p.  51.  \  Rev.  xi.  3.  xii.  G.  §  Rev.  xiii.  5,  7. 


131 

those  faithful  servants  of  God,  who  protested  against  his 
corruptions,  and  refused  to  partake  of  his  idolatries. 
These  persecutions  indeed,  like  the  more  ancient  perse- 
cutions of  Paganism,  have  not  always  been  universal, 
nor  have  they  always  raged  v^'ith  equal  violence  ;  they 
have  been  moreover  greatly  checked  by  the  influence  of 
the  Reformation,  and  by  the  consequent  waning  of  the 
Papal pozcer  :  nevertheless  the  witnesses  are  still  more 
or  less  jDrophesying  in  sackcloth  ;  they  are  still,  through- 
out popish  countries,  in  a  degraded  and  humbled  state  ; 
and  in  this  state  they  will  continue,  in  one  part  or  other 
of  the  world,  to  the  end  of  the  42  months.* 

8.  Lastly,  the  little  horn  was  to  subdue  or  depress  three 
out  of  the  ten  kings ;  or,  as  it  appears  from  the  corres- 
ponding action  of  the  symbols,  three  ofthejirst  ten  horns 
were  to  be  eradicated  before  it — Respecting  the  interpre- 
tation of  this  part  of  the  prophecy,  1  am  compelled  to 
differ  both  from  Mr.  Mede,  and  from  Sir  Isaac  and  Bp. 
Newton. 

Mr.  Mede,  who  may  justly  be  styled  the  fother  of 
prophetic  interpretation.,  supposes,  that  the  three  symbol- 
ical horns  which  appeared  to  Daniel  to  be  plucked  up  by 
the  roots  before  the  little  horn.,  were  those  whose  domin- 
ions extended  into  Italy,  and  so  stood  in  the  light  of  the 
little  horn.'\  First,  that  of  the  Greeks^  whose  emperor 
Leo  Isaurus  for  the  quarrel  of  image  worship  he  excom- 
municated, and  made  his  subjects  of  Italy  revolt  from 

*  The  indulgences,  which  the  French  frotestants  have  obtained  under  the  present 
usurper,  are  evidently  granted  merely  upon  a  political  principle.  The  Capets  perse- 
cuted them,  and  therefore  Buonaparte  favours  them.  It  remains  however  to  be  seen, 
what  he  will  do  when  he  shall  once  have  firmly  established  himself.  His  late 
restoration  oi popery  as  a  convenient  engine  of  state,  and  his  total  disregard  of  every 
obligation  moral  and  religious,  shew  plainly  that  the  protestants  will  be  protected 
only  so  long  as  it  suits  his  interest.  In  the  eyes  of  a  tyrant,  a  refusal  to  worship  the 
image  v/hich  he  has  set  up  will  probably  be  considered  as  a  secret  mark  of  disaffec- 
tion, though  it  may  not  be  convenient  for  him  immediately  to  notice  this  want  cf 
compliance  on  the  part  of  the  protestants. 

Incedunt  per  ignes 

Suppositos  cineri  doloso. 

f  In  this  particular  Mr.  Mede  seems  to  me  to  be  perfectly  right.  The  three  horns 
were  to  fall  "  before  the  little  horn"  or  in  his  immediate  presence  :  hence  they  cannot 
have  been  plucked  up  any  wliere  but  in  Italy.  Their  dominions  however  were  not 
merely  to  "  extend  into  Italy,"  an  expression  which  impUes  that  the  horns  themselves 
were  seated  o;/?  o/"  Italy  ;  but  the  sovereignty  itself  of  (^e  three  horns  raiist  have  been 
iited  in  that  coiintrv. 


152 

their  allegiance.  Secondly,  that  of  the  Longoharcls^  (suc- 
cessors to  the  Ostrogoths)  whose  kingdom  he  caused  by 
the  aid  of  the  Franks  to  be  wholly  ruined  and  extirpa- 
ted, thereby  to  get  the  exarchate  of  Ravenna  (which 
since  the  revolt  from  the  Greeks  the  Longobards  w  ere  seiz- 
ed on)  for  a  patrimony  to  St.  Peter.  Thirdly  the  king- 
dom oj  the  Franks  it^c/f^  continued  in  the  empire  of  Ger- 
many ;  whose  emperors  from  the  days  of  Henry  the 
fourth  he  excommunicated,  deposed,  and  trampled  under 
his  feet,  and  never  suffered  to  live  in  rest,  till  he  had 
made  them  not  only  to  quit  their  interest  in  the  election 
of  Popes  and  investiture  of  Bishops,  but  that  remainder 
of  jurisdiction  also  in  Italy,  wherewith  together  with  the 
Roman  name  he  had  once  infeoffed  their  predecessors. 
These  were  the  kings,  by  displanting,  or  (as  the  \  ulgar 
hath)  humbling,  of  whom  the  Pope  got  elbow  room  by 
degrees  ;  and  advanced  himself  to  that  height  of  tempo- 
ral majesty  and  absolute  greatness,  which  made  him  so 
terrible  in  the  world. ^'* 

Sir  Isaac  and  Bp.  Newton,  though  they  disagree  in  the 
catalogues  which  they  respectively  give  of  the  ten  king- 
doms^ concur  in  proposing  a  scheme  different  from  that 
of  Mr.  Mede  so  far  as  the  three  horns  are  concerned. 
They  each  conjecture,  that  the  three  eradicated pozvers 
^vere  the  Exarchate  oJ"  Ravenna,  the  kingdom  of  the  Lom- 
bards^ and  the  state  of  Rome. "^ 

Both  these  modes  of  interpretation  appear  to  me  ob- 
jectionable in  almost  every  point  of  view. 

With  regard  to  Mr.  Mede's  scheme  it  may  be  remark- 
ed, that,  if  by  the  Greeks  and  Franks  he  intends  the  Con- 
stanfinopolitun  and  Car/ovingiau  empires,  neither  of  those 
monarchies  ever  was  plucked  up  by  the  roots  before  the 
little  horn  ;  and  if,  on  the  other  hand,  by  the  Greeks 
and  F?'anks  he  intends  onl}'  the  Greek  and  Germanic 
provinces  in  Italij,  those,  being  mere  provinces,  cannot 
with  any  propriety  be  esteemed  horns,  or  independent 
kingdoms.  So  that,  take  the  scheme  in  what  light  we 
may,  it  will  prove  equally  untenable.     Whatever  inroads 

*  Mede's  Works  B.  iv.  Epist.  24. 

t,  Observ.  on  Dan.  p.  74,  75,  76— Pissert.  xiv. 


133 

the  Popes  might  make  upon  the  authority  of  iJie  Con- 
stantinopolitan  and  German  emperors  in  f/ie  detached 
provinces  of  their  respective  dominions,  I  know  not  how 
it  can  be  said,  that  by  such  encroachments  fzco  out  of 
the  ten  horns  were  plucked  up  by  the  roots  before  them.* 

With  regard  to  the  scheme  of  Sir  Isaac  and  Bp.  New- 
ton, the  first  objection  that  occurs  is  their  supposition 
that  the  Exarchate  of  Ravenna  was  one  of  the  ten  horns. 

The  Exarchate  was  not,  hke  each  of  the  monarchies 
founded  by  the  northern  nations,  a  horn  or  independent 
kingdom ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  a  mere  dependent  prov- 
ince of  the  Greek  empire^  governed,  Hke  its  other  prov- 
inces, by  a  deputy  :  hence  it  can  no  more  be  esteemed 
a  horn,  than  any  of  the  other  Greek  provinces,"]*  The 
prophet  simply  asserts,  that  the  Roman  beast,  when  his 
empire  was  divided,  should  put  forth  ten  horns  :  he  does 
not  give  us  the  least  reason  to  suppose,  that  there  should 
t)e  any  essential  ditFerence  in  the  political  constitution  of 
the  horns.  What  one  therefore  of  the  ten  horns  was,  that 
all  the  others  must  have  been  :%  for,  unless  we  complete- 
ly violate  the  harmony  of  symbolical  language,  we  can 
never  allow,  that  some  of  the  horns  represent  sovereign 
states,  and  others  of  them  mere  pt^ovinces  of  sovereign 
states. 

The  next  objection  is,  that,  even  allowing  the Exai'chate 
to  be  a  horn,  neither  it  nor  the  state  of  Rome,  occur  in 
the  true  list  of  the  ten  primary  kingdoms.  The  Bishop 
agrees  with  Sir  Isaac,  that  the  Exarchate  of  Ravenna, 
the  kingdom  of  the  Lombards,  and  the  state  of  Rome,  are 
the  three  horns  ;  but  he  censures   him   for  his  inconsist- 

*  Mr.  Mede  reckons  up  the  ten  kinofdonis,  as  follows  :  "  1 .  The  Britons  ;  2.  Tiie 
Saxons  in  Britain  ;  3.  The  Franks  ;  4.  The  Burgimdians  in  France  ;  5.  The  Visigoths 
in  the  South  of  France  and  part  of  Spain  ;  6.  The  Sueves  and  Alans  in  Gallicia  and 
Portugal ;  7.  The  Vandals  in  Africa  ;  8.  The  Alemanes  in  Germany ;  9.  The  Ostro- 
g;oths  whom  the  Longobards  succeeded,  in  Pannonia,  and  afterwards  in  Italy  ;  10. 
The  Greeks  in  the  residue  of  the  empire."  In  addition  to  the  foregoing  observations 
I  shall  hereafter  shew,  that  the  Eastern  empire  cannot  be  reckoned  one  of  the  horns  of 
the  beast,  all  of  which  must  be  sought  for  in  the  West. 

f  "  The  throne  of  the  Gothic  kings,"  says  Mr.  Gibbon,  was  filled  by  the  exarch 
of  Ravenna,  the  representati-ve  in  peace  and  zuar  of  the  emperor  of  the  East." 

\  The  prophet,  by  declaring  that  the  little  born  should  be  different  from  all  the 
rest,  necessarily  leads  us  to  conclude  that  the  ten  horns  should  not  be  different  from 
each  other. 


134 

ency  in  supposing  those  powers  to  be  the  three  horns, 
while  he  piesents  us  nevertheless  with  such  a  catalogue 
o^  the  ten  kingdoms  as  does  not  include  the  names  o{ all 
those  three  powers.*  The  censure  is  just,  for  the  prophet 
expressly  asserts,  that  three  of  the^V^^  horns  were  to  be 
plucked  up  before  the  little  horn;  yet  while  he  blames 
Sir  Isaac  for  this  manifest  flaw  in  his  interpretation,  he 
does  not  seem  conscious  that  much  the  same  censure  at- 
taches to  himself,  notwithstanding  his  attempt  to  parry  it. 
The  three  horns  are  certainly  to  be  sought  for  among  the 
ten  original  kingdoms  into  which  the  empire  was  divided, 
and  among  no  other  kingdoms  whatever  :  nothing  can 
be  more  definite  and  precise  upon  this  point  than  the  lan- 
guage of  Daniel.  We  ought  therefore  first  to  learn,  what 
these  ten  original  horns  were,  and  next  to  inquire  whe- 
ther three  of  them  were  ever  plucked  up  to  make  room 
for  an  eleventh  little  horn  perfectly  distinct  from  them  all  ; 
not  surely  first  to  fix  upon  three  states,  which  we  con- 
ceive may  answer  to  the  character  of  the  three  horns,  and 
then  contrive  such  a  list  of  ten  kingdoms  as  may  include 
these  th?'ee  states.  Yet  such  is  the  plan,  which  Bp. 
Newton  adopts.  Perfectly  aware  that  it  would  be  a  vain 
labour  to  seek  either  for  the  Exarchate  of  Ravenna  or 
for  the  state  of  Home  among  the  ten  primarif  kingdoms, 
he  most  unwarrantably  sets  aside  the  7^eal  list  of  those 
kingdoms,  and  substitutes  a  list  of  his  own  ;  into  which 
he  introduces  the  petty  state  of  Rome,  and  the  Greek 
province  of  Ravenna,  evidently  for  no  other  purpose  than 
to  give  a  colour  of  probability  to  his  predetermined  inter- 
pretation. Hence  his  catalogue  does  indeed  contain  the 
three  states,  which  he  supposes  to  be  the  three  horns 
plucked  up  before  the  little  horn;  but  it  is  certainly  not 
the  more  on  that  account  a  faithful  catalogue  of  the  ten 
original  kingdoms.  Accordingly  the  Bishop  himself 
confesses,  (a  confession  which  alone  is  sufficient  to  inval- 

*  sir  Isaac  gives  us  the  following  catalogue  of  the  ten  kingdoms:  "  1.  The  king- 
dom of  the  Vandals  and  Alans  in  Spain  and  Africa  ;  2. The  kingdom  of  the  Suevians 
in  Spain  ;  3.  The  kingdom  of  the  Visigoths  ;  4.  The  kingdom  of  the  Alans  in 
Gallia  ;  5.  The  kingdom  of  the  Burgundians  ;  6.  The  kingdom  of  the  Franks  ;  7. 
The  kingdom  of  the  Britons  ;  8.  The  kingdom  of  the  Huns ;  9.  The  kingdom  of 
the  I.ombards  ;  10.  The  kingdom  of  Ravenna."  In  this  catalogue  the  state  of  Komt^ 
^vhich  Sir  Isaac  supposes  to  be  one  of  the  three  horns,  does  not  occur. 


135 

idate  his  whole  plan  of  interpretation)  that  it  is  a  cata- 
lot^ne  calculated  for  the  eighth  century^  not  for  the  period 
in  zohich  the  Roman  empire  was  originaUy  divided.* 

The  result  of  the  whole  is,  that,  since  the  Greek  prov- 
ince of  Ravenna  cannot  be  esteemed  a  horn  or  independ- 
ent  kingdom  ;  and  since,  even  if  it  could,  neither  «V,  nor 
the  state  of  Rome ^  are  to  be  found  in  the  true  list  of  the 
ten  original  kingdoms  :  they  cannot  be  tz&o  oi  those  three 
primarif  horns  which  the  prophet  beheld  plucked  by  the 
roots  before  the  little  horn. 

Having  now  stated  my  objections  to  the  two  preced- 
ing modes  of  interpretation,  1  shall  endeavour  to  ascer- 
tain the  three  primarij  kingdoms.,  which  were  destined 
to  fall  before  the  eleventh  different  and  little  kingdom  of 
the  Roman  empire.  For  this  purpose  it  will  be  necessa- 
ry, /^V^/  to  inquire  into  the  import  of  the  prediction  con- 
cerning their  fall,  and  secondlij  to  learn  from  history  the 
names  of  the  ten  original  kingdoms  among  which  they 
are  to  be  sought. 

1.  The  overthrovi^  of  the  three  horns  is  described  in 
three  different  parts  of  the  vision  oi  the  four  beasts. 

"  I  considered  the  horns,  and,  behold,  there  came  up 
among  them  another  little  horn,  before  whom  three  of  the 
first  horns  were  plucked  up  by  the  roots." 

"  Then  I  would  know  the  truth  of  the  fourth  beast, — 
and  of  the  ten  horns  that  were  in  his  head,  and  of  the 
other  which  came  up,  and  before  whom  three  fell." 

"  The  ten  horns  out  of  this  kinofdom  are  ten  kins^s 
that  shall  arise  :  and  another  shall  rise  behind  them  ; 
and  he  shall  be  diverse  from  the  first,  and  he  shall  de- 
press three  kings." 

*  "  We  would,  for  reasons  which  will  hereafter  appear  to  the  attentive  reader," 
(namely,  in  order  that  his  Lordship's  catalogue  might  be  made  to  contain  the  three 
states,  which  he  supposes  to  be  the  three  horns  plucked  up  before  the  little  horn)  «  fix 
these  ten  kingdoms  at  a  different  era  from  any  of  the  foregoing  ;  and  let  us  see  how 
they  stood  in  the  eighth  century.  The  principal  states  and  governments  then  were — 
1 .  Of  the  Senate  of  Rome,  who  revolted  from  the  Greek  emperors,  and  claimed  and 
exerted  the  privilege  of  choosing  a  new  western  emperor ;  2.  Of  the  Greeks  in 
Ravenna ;  3.  Of  the  Lombards  in  Lombardy  ;  4.  Of  the  Huns  in  Hungary  ;  5.  Of 
the  Alemanes  in  Germany  ;  6.  Of  the  Franks  in  France  ;  7.  of  the  Burgundians  in 
Burgundy ;  8.  Of  the  Goths  in  Spain  ;  9.  Of  the  Britons  ;  10.  Of  the  Saxons  in 
Britain.-'  (Bp.  Newton's  Dissert.  XIV.)  Thus  does  the  Bishop  confessedly  adapt 
his  catalogue  to  the  three  supposed  horns,  instead  of  seeking  for  the  three  horns,  where 
the  prophet  directs  us  to  seek  thera,  among  the  ten/r.-f  horn?. 


136 

These  diflerent  passages  all  describe  the  same  circum- 
stance :  consequently,  whatever  is  the  import  of  the  one, 
must  likewise  be  the  import  of  both  the  others. 

With  respect  to  the  vision,  the  appearance,  which  pre- 
sented itself  to  Daniel,  seems  to  have  been  this.  While 
the  prophet  was  contemplating ///^  ten  horns  of  the  beast, 
he  beheld  cm  eleventh  /z///e' //or/z  gradually,  and  as  it  were 
by  stealth,  springing  up  among  them.*  As,  this  little 
horn  was  slowly  arising,  three  of  the  ^first  ten  horns, 
which  were  "  before  it"  or  in  its  immediate  vicinity,  so 
as  by  their  position  to  obstruct  its  growth,  were  suc- 
cessively eradicated,  and  fell  prostrate  at  its  feet.  Every 
obstacle  being  thus  removed,  the  little  horn  attained  its 
full  growth  ;  and  occupied  the  place,  which  had  been 
before  occupied  by  the  three  eradicated  horns. 

Such  apparently  was  the  action  of  the  symbols  ;  up- 
on which  the  interpreting  angel  observes,  that  an  eleventh 
kingdom  should  arise  behind  the  first  ten  kingdoms,  and 
should  depress  three  of  them.  Now,  since  it  is  said,  in 
one  passage,  that  the  three  horns  were  plucked  up  be- 
fore the  little  horn  ;  in  another,  that  they  fell  before  the 
little  horn  ;  and  in  a  third,  that  the  power  represented  hu 
the  little  horn  should  depress  the  powers  represented  bij 
the  three  horns  :  a  question  arises,  which  can  only  be 
determined  by  the  event  :  namely,  whether  this  smaller 
power  should  depress  three  of  the  first  powers  immedi- 
atelif  or  mediate  I  if,  by  his  own  proper  exertions  or  by  the 
instrmnentalitii  of  others  I  History  is  ever  the  best  inter- 
preter of  prophecy  ;  and  by  its  decisions  we  may  always 
safely  abide.  Daniel  specially  informs  us,  that  three  of 
X\\^jirst  ten  kingdoms,  into  which  the  empire  should  be 
divided,  were  to  be  plucked  up  before  the  little  horn. 
Hence  it  is  evident,  that  we  must  look  for  the  completion 
of  the  prophecy  among  the  \.^\^first  kingdoms,  and  among 
those  onhj.  Now  we  do  not  find,  as  it  shall  be  presently 
shewn  from  history,  that  anij  three  of  the  ten  original 


*  He  seems  to  have  overlooVred  the  Utile  horn  at  first,  owing  to  its  diminutive  size, 
and  to  its  springing  up  behind  ihe  other  hums ;  and  to  have  fixed  his  attention  en- 
tirely upon  the  ten  hurm  :  till  it  was  diverted  from  them  by  the  increasing  size  of 
the  littli  horn. 


137 

kingdoms*  were  ever  literally  depressed  by  ike  immediate 
exertions  of  an  eleventh  smaller  kingdom  :  but  we  do 
find,  that  precisely  three  of  them  were  eradicated  by  the 
instrumentalitij  of  each  other,  of  the  Greeks,  and  of  the 
Frafiks,  before  an  eleventh  little  horn,  which  had  been 
gradually  rising  in  the  midst  of  troublesome  times,  and 
which  at  length  occupied  the  place  of  its  three  depressed 
predecessors.  Thus  does  history  at  once  interpret  the 
prophecy,  and  undeniably  point  out  to  us  the  power  in- 
tended by  the  little  horn. 

2.  As  the  three  horns  are  to  be  sought  for  among  the 
ten  Jirst  horns,  we  must  obviously  learn  what  those  ten 
Jirst  horns  are,  before  we  can  inquire  with  any  prospect 
of  success  for  the  three  which  were  to  be  eradicated  be- 
fore the  little  horn.  The  historian  Machiavel,  whom  I 
connot  but  consider  as  the  best,  because  the  most  un- 
prejudiced, judge  of  the  manner  in  which  the  Roman 
empire  was  divided,  very  undesignedly,  and  (as  Bp. 
Chandler  remarks)  little  thinking  what  he  was  doing, 
reckons  up  the  ten  primary  kingdoms  as  follows  :  1.  The 
Ostrogoths  in  Mesia  ;  2.  The  Visigoths  in  Pannonia  ;  3. 
The  Sueves  and  Alans  in  Gasgoigne  and  Spain  ;  4.  The 
Vandals  in  Africa  ;  5.  The  Franks  in  France  ;  6.  The 
Burgundians  in  Burgundy;  7-  The  Heruli  and  Turing! 
in  Italy ;  8.  The  Saxons  and  Angles  in  Britain  ;  9.  The 
Huns  in  Hungary  ;  and  10.  The  Lombards,  at  first  upon 
the  Danube,  afterwards  in  Italy. f  The  self-same  cata- 
logue is  exhibited  by  that  excellent chronologer  Bp.  Lloyd, 
who  adds  the  dates  when  these  ten  kingdoms  arose  :  1. 
The  Huns  about  A.  D.  356;  2.  The  Ostrogoths,  377  ; 
.'J.  The  Visigoths,  378  ;  4.  The  Franks,  407  ;  5.  The 
Yandals,  407 ;  6.  The  Sueves  and  Alans,  407  ;  7-  The 
Burgundians,  407 ;  8.  The  Heruli  and  Rugii,  476 ;  9. 
The  Saxons,  476  ;  10.  The  Longobards  in  the  north  of 
Germany,  483  ;  in  Hungary,  526.;}: 

These  then,  upon  the  concurring  testimony  of  an  his- 
torian and  a  chronologer,  are  the  ten  kimgdoms  into  which 

*  In  fact,  we  do  not  find  that  any  three  kingdoms  were  subdued  by  the  immediate 
force  of  the  Papacy.  The  Pope  himself  neither  subdued  the  kiogdom  of  the  l^ovK- 
bards,  the  state  of  Rome,  nor  the  Exarchate. 

f  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert.  XIV.  |  Ibid, 

VOL.  I.  18 


138 

the  Roman  empire  was  originally  divided,  and  eonse- 
quently  they  are  the  ten  jirst  horns  of  which  we  are  ia 
quest.  Hence,  if  ever  three  kingdoms  were  plucked  up 
before  «  little  kingdom  which  arose  imperceptibly  aaiong 
the  ten  primary  kingdoms^  they  must  be  three,  the  names 
of  which  occur  in  the  preceding  list  of  Machiavel  and 
Bp.  Lloyd.  Accordingly  we  shall  find,  that  the  king- 
dom of  the  Heruli,  the  kingdom  of  the  Ostrogoths,  and 
the  kingdom  of  the  Lombards,  were  successively  eradica- 
ted before  the  little  papal  horn,  which  at  length  became 
a  temporal  no  less  than  a  spiritual  power  at  the  expence 
of  these  three  depressed /?rz^^^«rj/  states. 

1.  In  the  year  476,  Odoacer  king  of  the  Hertdi*  put 
an  end  to  the  western  empire,  and  caused  himself  to  be 
proclaimed  king  of  Italy,  By  this  conquest  he  stood 
"  before,"  or  in  the  way  of,  the  papal  horn ;  whence  it 
was  necessary,  that  his  regal  horn  should  be  plucked  up 
in  order  to  make  room  for  the  future  aggrandisement  of 
the  spiritual  kingdom  of  the  Pope.  This  was  effected, 
in  the  year  493,  by  Theodoric  king  of  tlie  Ostrogoths. 
Leading  his  hardy  troops  from  their  original  settlement  in 
Mesia  and  the  neighbourhood  of  Constantinople,  he  de- 
scended from  the  Julian  Alps,  and  displayed  his  banners 
on  the  confines  of  Italy.  Victory  crowned  his  enter- 
prize  ;  from  the  Alps  to  the  extremity  of  Calabria  Theo- 
doric reigned  by  right  of  conquest  ;  and  he  was  accept- 
ed as  the  deliverer  of  Rome  by  the  Senate  and  the  people. 

2.  This  second  of  the  three  horns  however,  standing 
equally  in  the  way  of  papal  aggrandizement,  was  destin- 
ed, like  its  immediate  predecessor,  to  fall  before  the  little 

*  Disputes  have  arisen  respecting  the  proper  name  of  Odoacer's  subjects,  but 
they  are  disputes  which  are  of  Httle  consequence  to  the  completion  of  the  prophecy. 
Machiavel  styles  his  kingdom,  that  of  the  Heruli  and  Turin gi ;  Bp.  Lloyd,  that  of  tht 
Heriili  and  Riigii ;  and  Mr.  Gibbon  asserts,  that  his  immediate  and  hereditary  subjects 
were  the  tribe  of  the  Scyrri,  wliile  the  Italian  kingdom  which  he  founded  was  com- 
posed of  various  clans  of  Gothic  mercenaries,  among  which  the  names  of  the  Heruli, 
the  Scyrri,  the  A/aiii,  the  Turcilingi,  and  the  Rugians,  appear  to  have  predominated. 
Be  this  as  it  may,  the  kingdom,  which  he  did  found,  was  one  of  tlie  ten  primary 
kingdoms  ;  whence,  if  its  history  correspond  with  the  prophecy,  it  is  certainly  ca- 
pable, in  its  capacity  of  ?l  primary  kingdom,  of  being  reckoned  one  of  the  three  horns. 
1'he  accurate  particularising  of  the  tribes  which  composed  it  cannot  make  it  either 
more  or  less  ?i  primary  kingdom.  All  possibility  of  dispute  might  be  avoided,  if,  in 
the  catalogue  of  the  ten  kingdoms,  it  were  styled,  the  kingdom  of  Odoacer  in  Italy,  instead 
of  the  kingdom  of  the  Heruli  and  Turingi  in  Italy  or  the  kingdom  of  the  Heruli  and  Rugii 
in  Italy, 


139 

'horn.  After  the  kingdom  of  the  Ostrogoths  had  subsist- 
ed in  Italy  its  allotted  time,  it  was  attacked  by  Bellisa- 
riiis  ;  and  at  length  was  utterly  eradicated  by  Narses 
the  lieutenant  of  the  Eastern  emperor,  and  his  auxilia- 
ries the  Lombards. 

3.  Italy  now  became  a  province  of  the  Constantinopol- 
itan  empire.,  and  was  governed  by  an  imperial  officer, 
who  bore  the  title  of  Exarch  of  Ravenna.  Scarcely 
however  was  the  Exarchate  established,*  when  the  Lom- 
bards, who  had  lent  their  assistance  to  Narses  in  his  at- 
tack upon  the  kingdom  of  the  Ostrogoths,  began  to  med- 
itate the  conquest  of  Italy  for  themselves.  Narses  was 
engaged  in  the  settlement  of  that  country  under  the 
government  of  the  Constantinopolitan  emperors  from  the 
year  554-  to  the  year  568  ;  and  it  was  in  the  year  567-, 
that  Alboin,  king  of  the  Lombards,  undertook  the  sub- 
jugation of  it.  Descending  from  the  same  Julian  Alps 
that  his  Gothic  predecessor  Theodoric  had  done,  he  be- 
came, without  a  battle  or  a  siege,  master  of  Italy  from 
the  Trentine  hills  to  the  gates  of  Ravenna  and  Rome. 

The  exarchate  of  Ravenna  still  feebly  subsisted,  but 
it  was  at  length  completely  subdued  by  the  Lombardic 
monarch  Aistulphus  about  Me  year  752.  This  conquest 
however  was  only  the  prelude  to  the  utter  eradication  of 
the  third  and  last  horn,  which  interfered  with  the  ag- 
grandisement of  the  Papacy,  and  which  was  therefore  to 
be  plucked  up  by  the  roots  before  it.  Alarmed  at  the 
growing  power  of  Aistulphus,  the  Pope  applied  for  as- 
sistance to  Pipin  king  of  France  ;  who,  in  the  course  of 
two  successive  expeditions  into  Italy,  wrested  from  that 
prince  the  whole  district  of  the  Exarchate,  and  bestowed 
it  in  perpetual  sovereignty  upon  the  Bishop  of  Rome. 
"  After  this  double  chastisement,  the  Lombards  lan- 
guished about  twenty  years  in  a  state  of  languor  and  de- 

*  "  The  destruction  of  a  mighty  kingdom  established  the  fame  of  Alboin — But 
his  ambition  was  yet  unsatisfied  ;  and  the  conqueror  of  the  Gepidje  turned  his  eyes 
from  the  Danube  to  the  richer  banks  of  the  Po  and  the  Tiber.  Fifteen  years  had 
not  elapsed,  since  his  subjects,  the  confederates  of  Narses,  had  visited  the  pleasant 
climate  of  Italy  :  the  mountains,  the  rivers,  the  high-ways,  were  familiar  to  their 
memory  :  the  report  of  their  success,  perhaps  the  view  of  their  spoils,  had  kindled 
in  the  rising  generation  the  flame  of  emulation  and  enterprise.  Their  hopes  were 
encouraged  by  the  spirit  and  eloquence  of  Alboin."  Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall, 
V^oL  viii.  p.  122,  123. 


145 

cay.  But  their  minds  were  not  yet  humbled  to  their 
condition  ;  and,  instead  of  affecting  the  pacific  virtues  of 
the  feeble,  they  peevishly  harassed  the  Romans  with  a 
repetition  of  claims,  evasions,  and  inroads,  which  they 
undertook  without  reflection,  and  terminated  without 
glory."  Charlemagne  had  now  succeeded  his  father 
Pipin,  and  like  him  assumed  the  character  of  the  cham- 
pion of  the  Church.  At  the  request  of  the  Pope  he  for- 
mally undertook  his  cause  ;  entered  Italy  at  the  head  of 
a  large  army  ;  completely  eradicated  the  horn  of  Lom- 
bardif  ;  and  bestowed  great  part  of  its  dominions  upon 
the  successors  of  St.  Peter.* 

Thus  were  three  o^  the  first  horns  plucked  up  by  the 
roots  before  an  eleventh  litt'e  hum,  which  silently  arose 
among  them,  till  it  had  supplanted  the  three  horns,  that 
stood  in  its  way  and  prevented  its  full  expansion. f 

*  Mr.  Sharpe  briefly  observes,  that  tie  three  horns,  eradicated  before  the  little  horr, 

were  "the  three  Gothic  iingdo?>is"  Or  "  the   three  dhtiact    national  go-vernments   of  Gothii 

kings,  seated  successively  in  Rome  itself:"  and  he  adds,  that  these  three  kingdoms  con- 
stituted the  short-lived  seventh  head  of  the  beast  meniioned  in  the  Apocalypse  ;  that  the 
last  of  them  was  wounded  to  death  by  the  sword  of  Justinian  in  the  hand  of  Bellisa- 
rius  ;  and  that  the  ivbcle  period  of  their  joint  dominion  amounted  not  to  more  than  70 
years.  (See  Append,  to  three  Tracts,  p.  43 — An  Inquiry  into  the  description  of 
Babylon,  p.  ?,  9 --and  Append,  to  Inquiry,  p.  2,  S,  4,  5.)  What  three  Gothic  kingdoms 
Mr.  Sharpe  alludes  to,  I  cannot  imagine  from  his  chronological  and  circumstantial 
description  of  them.  I  am  only  aware  of  the  three  folloiving  Gothic  kingdoms  havings 
been  ever  seated  in  Italy  :  that  of  the  Heruli ;  that  of  the  the  Ostrogoths  ;  and  that 
of  the  Lombards.  Of  these  Justinian  only  subverted  that  of  the  Ostrogoths  :  as  for 
that  of  the  Lombards,  it  continued  many  years  after  the  termination  of  his  reign  ; 
and,  after  overturning  the  government  of  the  Greek  Emperors  in  Italy,  it  was  in 
its  turn  destroyed  by  Charlemagne.  So  again  Mr.  Sharpe  speaks  of  three  Gothic 
kingdoms  seated  in  \\.2\.-j  pre-vious  to  the  reign  of  Justinian,  and  jointly  continuing 
about  70  years.  Upon  adverting  to  liistory,  we  shall  find,  that  the  fivo  Gothic  king- 
doms of  the  Hendi  and  the  Ostrogoths  continued  something  more  than  70  years  ;  and 
that  the  last  of  them  was  subdued  by  Justinian  ;  but  it  will  prove  a  vain  labour  to 
look  for  a  third,  the  duration  of  which  jointly  with  that  of  the  other  two  shall 
amount  to  about  10  years.  The  whole  duration  of  the  three  kingdoms  O^  the  Heruli,  the 
Ostrogoths,  and  the  Lojnbards  ,convpr<£h.end&  a  space,  not  merely  of  70  years,  but  of  little 
less  than  three  centuries  :  for  the  kingdom  cf  the  Heruli  was  erected  in  the  year  476,  and 
the  kingdom  of  the  Lombards  was  subverted  by  Charlemagne  in  the  year  774.  As  for 
these  three  kingdoms,  they  cannot  be  at  once  both  three  horns  and  the  seventh  bead  of 
the  selfsame  beast  at  the  self-same  time  and  in  the  self-same  capacity  :  both  because  such 
an  opinion  is  a  palpable  contradiction,  confounding  together  in  a  strange  manner 
the  different  members  of  the  beast  ;  and  because  298  \ears,  the  period  of  their  joint 
duration,  can  scarcely  be  called  so  tiery  short  a  time,  compared  with  the  duration 
of  any  of  the  other  heads.  It  is  to  be  wished,  that  Mr.  Sharpe  had  explicitly  said 
what  three  Gothic  kingdoms  he  intended. 

f  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  Rev.  xiii.  and  xvii. —  Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol. 
v5.  p.  226 — 2S7— Ibid.  Vol.  \ni.  p.  11 — 15,  214 — 257,  353-398 — Ibid.  Vol.  viii.  p. 
122,  126,  127,  145,  147— Ibid.  \'el.  is.  p.  145—150,  156— 159— Bp.  Newton's 
Pi«sert.  XIV. 


It  is  curious  to  observe  the  gradual  rise  of  papal  dom- 
ination during  the  turbulent  age,  in  which  the  three 
horns  were  successively  eradicated.  Under  the  reign  of 
Odoacer,  the  Bishops  of  Rome  had  acquired  so  much  in- 
fluence, that  even  the  victorious  I'heodoric  found  it  pru- 
dent to  pay  court  to  them.  Though  he  assumed  the  su- 
premacy of  the  Church,  he  was  not  ignorant  of  the  dig- 
nity and  importance  oi  the  Roman  pontiff.  "  The  peace 
or  the  revolt  of  Italy  might  depend  on  the  character  of  a 
wealthy  and  popular  Bishop,  who  claimed  such  ample 
dominion  both  in  heaven  and  earth."*  Accordingly  we 
find,  that,  toward  the  close  of  the  Ostrogothic  sovereign- 
ty, the  Pope  took  a  leading  part  in  the  revolution  whicli 
once  more  brought  Italy  under  the  sway  of  the  emperors. 
"  The  deputies  of  the  Pope  and  clergy,  of  the  senate  and 
people,  invited  the  lieutenant  of  Justinian  to  accept  their 
voluntary  allegiance,  and  to  enter  the  city,  whose  gates: 
would  be  thrown  open  for  his  reception. "f  And  after- 
wards, when  the  Ostrogothic  monarchij  for  a  short  time 
recovered  itself  previous  to  its  final  subjection,  the  em- 
peror Justinian  was  roused  from  his  slumber  "  by  the 
Pope  Vigilius  and  the  Patrician  Cethegus,  who  appear- 
ed before  his  throne,  and  adjured  him,  in  the  name  of 
God  and  the  people,  to  resume  the  conquest  and  deliv- 
erance of  Italy. '':[: 

At  this  period,  as  Machiavel  very  justly  remarks,  the 
Papacy  was  greatly  assisted  in  its  acquisition  of  tempo- 
ral authority  by  the  circumstance  of  Theodoric  king  of 
the  Ostrogoths  making  Ravenna  his  metropolis  ;§  for, 
"  there  being  no  other  prince  left  in  Rome,  the  Romans 
were  forced  for  protection  to  pay  greater  allegiance  to 
the  Pope." 

During  the  struggles  between  the  Lombards  and  the 
imperial  lieutenants  at  Bavenna,  the  power  of  the  Popes 
continued  gradually  on  the  increase.     Availing  them- 

*  Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  vii.  p.  37. 

t  Ibid.  p.  223.  \  Ibid.  p.  378. 

§  Ravenna  was  the  metropolis  likewise  even  of  the  JVestern  empire  itself  some 
years  previous  to  its  fall.  Honorius  first  fixed  his  residence  there  in  the  year  404,  as 
a  place  of  security  against  the  inroads  of  the  northern  nations.  (Hist,  of  Decline 
Vol.  V.  p.  207.)  Thus  was  he  '.vho  letted  gradually  taken  out  of  the  ivay,  to  make 
room  fpr  the  Apostacy  and  the  fuU  revelation  of  the  man  of  sin. 


142 

selves  of  those  turbulent  and  unsettled  times,  and  find- 
ing that  their  influence  was  sufficient  to  turn  the  scale 
wliichever  way  they  pleased,  they  began,  as  Machiavel 
observes,  to  treat  and  confederate  sometimes  with  the 
Impeinal'ists  and  sometimes  with  the  Lombards^  "not  as 
subj  cts,  but  as  equals  and  companions." 

in  short,  throughout  a  period  of  anarchy,  when  the 
minds  of  men  were  kept  in  a  constant  ferment  by  the 
frequency  of  pohtical  changes,  "  the  want  of  laws  a- 
mong  the  Romans  could  only  be  supplied  by  the  influ- 
ence of  religion  ;  and  their  foreign  and  domestic  coun- 
sels were  moderated  by  the  authority  of  the  Bishop. 
His  alms,  his  sermons,  his  correspondence  with  the  kings 
and  prelates  of  the  West,  his  recent  services,  their  grati- 
tude, and  oath,  accustomed  the  Romans  to  consider  him 
as  the  first  magistrate  or  prince  of  the  city.  The  Christ- 
ian humility  of  the  Popes  was  not  offended  by  the  name 
of  Dojninus  or  Loi'd  ;  and  their  face  and  inscription  are 
still  apparent  on  the  most  ancient  coins.  Their  tempo- 
ral dominion  is  now  confirmed  by  the  reverence  of  a 
thousand  years  ;  and  their  noblest  title  is  the  free  choice 
of  a  people  whom  they  had  redeemed  from  slavery."* 

Such  was  the  state  of  the  Papacy  immediately  before 
the  subversion  of  the  k'mgdom  of  the  Lombards^  the  last 
of  the  three  horns  w-hich  stood  in  its  way,  and  which 
was  therefore  destined  to  fall  before  it.  When  this  horn 
was  completely  eradicated,  the  eleventh  little  horn  attain- 
ed to  its  full  growth  in  temporalities,  by  the  acquisition 
of  the  exarchate  and  a  considerable  part  of  the  kingdom 
of  Lombardif^  and  by  the  complete  subjugation  of 
Rome.  It  had  already  become  a  spiritual  empire,  when 
in  the  year  606  the  saints  were  delivered  into  its  hand. 

Here  then  we  behold  a  little  //'or;/ springing  up  among 
and  behind  the  first  ten  horns,  and  advancing  itself  up- 
on the  ruins  of  three  of  those  horns,  which  were  suc- 
cessively eradicated  before  it.  No  other  pozcer  but  the 
Papacij  arose  under  similar  circumstances,  no  other  cor- 
responds in  every  respect  with  the  character  of  the  little 
horn ;  whence  it  is  concluded,  that  the  symbol  of  the  lit- 

*  Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  ix.  p.  14-i, 


\i'3 

tie  horn  is  designed  to  typify  t/ie  Papaaj  and  nothing  but 
the  Papacy.  It  is  in  vain,  that  the  Romanists  would 
persuade  us,  that  the  little  horn  is  Antichrist^  and  that 
his  reign  is  still  remote.  Since  three  of  the  Jirst  horns, 
into  which  the  Roman  empire  branched  out,  were  to  fall 
before  the  little  horn  ;  if  the  prophecy  has  not  been  al- 
ready accomplished,  it  is  noxo  impossible  that  it  ever 
should  be  accomplished.  From  the  various  political 
changes  which  have  taken  place  in  the  course  of  the  last 
twelve  centuries,  the  ten  primarij  horns  can  no  longer  be 
pointed  out ;  consequently  no  three  of  them  can  nozi}  be 
plucked  up  before  amj  little  horn,  which  the  Papists  may 
fancy  will  hereafter  arise.  By  attending  however  to  the 
voice  of  history  we  find,  that  it  has  been  the  fate  of  three 
of  the  primary  horns  successively  to  quit  their  original 
settlements  for  the  purpose  of  fixing  themselves  in  Italy, 
so  as  to  stand  "  before"  the  Papacy :  and  we  further 
find,  that  it  has  been  the  fate  of  exactly  these  three,  and 
no  more,  to  be  completely  eradicated  "  before"  the  grow- 
ing power  of  the  Bishops  oj'  Rome.  None,  except  these 
three,  were  ever  plucked  up  under  such  circumstances  : 
that  is  to  say,  none,  except  these  three,  ever  fell  "  before" 
<in  eleventh  power  perfectly  distinct  and  perfectly  differ- 
ent from  the  ten  primary  kingdoms.  Exactly  three  how- 
ever of  the  ten  primary  kingdoms  did  fall  "  before"  the 
Papacy :  it  is  incumbent  therefore  upon  the  votaries  of 
the  Church  oj" Rome  to  shew,  why  we  are  not  to  conclude 
these  three  kingdoms  to  be  the  three  horns  of  the  beast 
and  the  Papacy  to  be  the  eleventh  little  horn,  before  they 
can  expect  a  protestant  to  believe  that  the  reign  of  this 
little  horn  is  still  remote. 

The  preceding  catalogue  o^  the  ten  primarif  Vingdoms^ 
which  is  given  us  by  Machiavel  and  Bp.  Lloyd,  very 
properly  omits,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Greek  province  of 
Ravenna,  and  at  the  same  time  places  all  the  ten  king- 
doms \\\  the  western  parts  oj  the  Roman  empire.  Here 
therefore  it  may  perhaps  be  asked,  "  Why  must  all  the 
horns  be  sought  for  in  the  West!  Although  the  exar- 
chate cannot  be  esteemed  a  horn,  why  may  not  the  Con- 
stantinopolitan  monarchy  /"  The  reason  is  this.  That 
empire,  after  the  downfall  of  the  Western  empire,  still 


lit 

constituted  under  the  government  of  its  emperors,  the 
sixth  head  of  the  beast  ,*  consequently  it  cannot  be  at 
once.,  and  in  the  selfsame  capacitij.,  both  a  head  and  a 
hum  o^  the  selfsame  beast.  Jn  this  particular  there  is  a 
striking  difference  between  the  political  character  of  the 
ancient  Roman  emperors.,  and  that  of  the  modern  empe- 
rors of  the  West  whose  dignity  commenced  with  Char- 
lemagne. The  title  of  the  ancient  emperors  was  attached 
to  their  territorial  possessions  ;  whereas  that  of  the  mod- 
ern emperors  is  entirely  distinct :  so  that  Charlemagne 
was  emperor  in  one  capacity^  and  kijig  of  France  in  anoth- 
er ;  in  the  same  manner  as  the  present  head  of  the  house 
of  Austria  would  be  king  of  Hungarij  and  Bohemia., 
whatever  family  might  be  elected  to  the  imperial  dignitif. 
On  these  grounds  the  Emperor  of  Constantinople  cannot 
be  esteemed  one  of  the  ten  horns.,  without  a  manifest 
violation  of  the  harmony  of  the  prophetic  vision  ;  al- 
though, inasmuch  as  he  was  the  sixth  head.,  his  domin- 
ions must  be  reckoned  as  part  of  the  Roman  empire,  the 
whole  of  which  is  represented  in  the  Apocalypse  under 
the  symbol  of  the  earth  :  and,  on  the  same  grounds,  «// 
the  ten  horns  of  the  beast  must  be  sought  for  in  the  West ; 
where  accordingly  Machiavel  and  Bp.  Lloyd  have  found 
precisely  that  number  of  original  Gothic  kingdoms.-\ 

I  am  aware,  that  both  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  and  Bp. 
Newton,  are  of  opinion,  that  the  eastern  half  of  the  em- 
fire  is  not  to  be  accounted  a  part  of  the  body  of  the 
fourth  beast :  but  I  much  doubt,  whether  this  opinion 
rests  upon  any  solid  foundation  :  for  it  neither  agrees 
with  the  Revelation  of  St.  John,  which  predicts  the  for- 
tunes oi' the  entire  Roman  empire  as  well  eastern  as  zoest- 
ern,  and  which  describes  it  as  one  great  whole  by  the  sym- 
bol of  the  earth  ;  nor  does  it  even  quadrate  with  the' 
scheme  upon  which  it  is  founded.  Sir  Isaac  argues,  that 
*'  the  nations  of  Chaldhi  and  Assyria  are  still  the  first 
beast  ;  those  of  Media  and  Persia  are  still  the  second 
beast  ;  those  of  Macedon,  Greece,  Thrace,  Asia  Minor, 

*  Rev.  rv'ii.  10. 
f  "  Ubinam  hi  decern  reges  quarendi  sunt  .'  Non  in  Oriente  :  neque  enim  Impc- 
rium   GrjECum  seu  Orientale  unum  e  decern   cornibus  erat,  ut  apparet.  quia  h.xc 
dimidia  pars  fuit  capitis  sexti  sive  Cxsareaui  a  Constantino  bipartiti."    Excid.  Antic, 
apud  Pol.  Sj-nop,  in  loc. 


145 

Suria,  ami  Egypt,  are  still  the  thir^d ,-  and  tJiose  ofEic- 
rope,  on  this  side  Greece,  are  still  the  fourth.  Seeing 
therefore  the  body  of  the  third  beast  is  confined  to  the 
nations  on  this  side  the  river  Euphrates,  and  the  body  of 
the  fourth  beast  is  confined  to  the  nations  on  this  side 
Greece  :  we  are  to  look  for  all  the  four  heads  of  the 
third  beast,  among  the  nations  on  this  side  the  river  Eu' 
phrates  ;  and  for  all  the  eleven  horns  of  the  fourth  beast, 
among  the  nations  on  this  side  of  Greece.  And  there- 
fore, at  the  breaking  o^  the  Greek  empire  \nto  four  king' 
doms  of  the  Greeks^  we  include  no  part  o^  the  Chaldh' 
ans,  Medes,  and  Persians,  in  those  kingdoms,  because 
they  belonged  to  the  bodies  of  the  two  frst  beasts.  Nor 
do  we  reckon  the  Greek  empire,  seated  at  Constantino- 
ple, among  the  horns  of  the  fourth  beast,  because  it  be- 
longed to  the  body  of  the  thirds* 

1  fully  agree  with  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  though  for  a  dif- 
ferent reason  which  I  have  already  stated, f  that  the  eleven 
horns  of  the  fourth  beast  must  all  be  sought  for  among 
the  nations  on  this  side  Greece,  and  that  the  Constantino- 
politan  empire  cannot  be  esteemed  one  of  those  horns  ; 
but  his  scheme  of  excluding  that  empire  from  the  body 
of  the  fourth  beast  IS,  man\{e^\.\y  mcon^xslent  with  itself. 
Sir  Isaac  maintains,  that  the  four  heads  of  the  third  beast 
are  to  be  looked  for  in  the  countries  on  this  side  the  Eu- 
phrates ;  namely  in  those  of  Macedon,  Greece,  Thrace, 
Asia  Minor,  Syria,  and  Egypt  :  for  he  affirms,  that  these 
regions  form  the  proper  body  of  the  third  beast,  in  the 
same  manner  as  those  westward  of  Greece  form  the  prop- 
er body  of  the  fourth  beast,  and  constitute  his  ten  horns. 
The  fur  heads  of  the  third  beast  are  undoubtedly  to  be 
sought  for  in  the  re,2:ions  which  he  specifies,  but  certainly 
not  for  the  reasons  which  he  assigns  :  for  the  countries  of 
Asia  Minor,  Syria,  and  Egijpf,  cannot  be  considered  as 
forming  an  exclusive  part  oftlie  body  of  the  third  beast, 
because  they  were  originally  provinces  belonging  to  the 
second  beast.  This  will  necessarily  follow  from  Sir  Isaac's 
own  scheme,     if,  as  he  supposes,   Greece  and  its  de- 

*  Observ.  on  Daniel,  p.  31,  32. 
t   Namely,  because  the  Roman    emperor   of  Constantinople   was   the  sixth    head  of  the 
h:ast,  and  consequently  cannot  be  esteemed  ae  of  his  horns  likewise. 
VOL,   I.  10 


146 

pendent  provinces  mwsi  not  be  esteemed  a  part  of  the 
body  of  the  Roman  beust^  because  they  originally  belong- 
ed to  the  Macedonian  beast :  then,  in  order  that  the 
scheme  may  be  consistent  with  itself,  Asia  Minor^  Sijria^ 
and  Egifpf^  must  not  be  esteemed  a  part  of  the  bod,j  of 
the  Macedonian  beast^  because  they  previously  belonged 
to  the  Medo-Persian  beast.  Or,  to  state  the  same  argu- 
ment in  a  somewhat  different  form  :  if  the  body  of  the 
Medo-Persian  beast  is  to  be  confined  within  the  strict 
limits  o{  Media  and  Persia  properly  so  called^  as  Sir  Isaac 
supposes  :  then,  in  a  similar  manner,  the  bodij  of  the  Ma- 
cedonian, beast  must  be  confined  within  the  limits  of  Ma- 
cedon  and  Greece ;  and  the  bodij  of  the  Roman  beasf^ 
within  those  of  Italy  :  in  which  case  it  will  be  a  vain  la- 
bour to  look  either  for  the  four  heads*  of  the  third  beast  ^ 
or  for  the  ten  horns  of  the  fourth  beast.  The  truth  is,  no 
less  than  /zeJO  out  of  the  four  heads  of  the  third  beast, 
namely  the  Syrian  kingdom  of  Seleucus  2ind  the  Egyptian 
kingdom  of  Ptolemy,  sprung  up  within  the  limits  oi  the 
Persian  empire,  after  it  had  been  subdued  by  Alexan- 
der :  consequently,  \?  a  part  of  the  Persian  empire  is  to 
be  included  in  the  body  of  the  third  beast,  forming  his 
txDO  most  powerful  heads  ;  there  cannot  be  assigned  any 
reason,  why  a  part  of  the  third  beast,  namely  Greece  and 
the  eastern  provinces  which  afterwards  constituted  the 
Romano-Constantino polit an  empire,  should  not  be  includ- 
ed in  the  body  of  the  fourth  beast.  Hence  I  am  reluc- 
tantly constrained  to  assert,  that  the  scheme  of  separat- 
ing the  eastern  empire  from  the  bodij  of  the  fourth  beast, 
laid  dow^n  by  Sir  Isaac  Newton  and  adopted  by  Bp.  New- 
ton, must  necessarily  be  erroneous  :  because,  if  allowed 
to  be  just,  it  will  force  us,  in  order  to  preserve  the  con- 
sistency of  prophecy,  to  separate  from  the  body  of  the 
Macedonian  beast  his  tivo  eastern  heads  of  Si/ria  and 
£g//pf ;  inasmuch  as  both  those  countries  were />^;'oi?- 
2}ices  of  the  Medo-Persian  empire,  before  they  became 
heads  of  the  Macedonian  empire. 

In  preference  then  to  Sir  Isaac's  scheme,  I  am  rather 

*  It  Is  almost  superfluous  to  remind  the  reader,  that  the  four  heads  of  the  third  beast 
in  the  vision  of  the  four  great  beasts  are  the  same  as  thifour  horns  of  the  he-goat  in  the 
viiioii  of  the  ram  and  the  he-nxt. 


147 

inclined  to  think,  that  the  four  beasts  are  the  four 
great  empires^  considered  as  respectively  extending  to 
their  several  utmost  hmits  :  so  that  the  Medo-Persian 
empire  comprehends  not  only  Media  and  Persia^  but 
likewise  Chald^a^  Assyria^  Asia  Mi?wr,  Syria^  and 
Egypt  ;  the  Macedonian  empire^  not  only  Greece^  but 
likewise  tlie  former  empire  of  Persia  :  and  the  Roman 
empire^  by  a  parity  of  reasoning,  not  only  Italy  and  the 
Westy  but  likewise  Greece,  Egypt,  and  Asia  as  far  as 
the  Euphrates.* 

As  for  specifying  i^vhat  powers  are  now  the  ten  horns,  I 
cannot  but  consider  it  as  absurd  to  attempt  it.  History 
has  decidedly  shewn,  that  the  kingdoms,  into  which  the 
Roman  empire  was  divided,  never  continued  long  in  the 
same  state  :  nor  is  it  at  all  necessary  for  the  completion 
of  the  prophecy,  that  they  should  have  done  so.  T'dDO 
of  the  horns  of  the  Macedonian  he-goat  were  soon  swal-^ 
lowed  up  by  the  most  powerful  of  the  other  two  horns  : 
and  the  great  Latin  citij,  exclusive  1  apprehend  of  those 
protestant  powers  which  have  come  out  of  it,  will  event- 
ually be  divided  into  no  more  than  three  parts. ^  Still 
however  the  Roman  beastly  symbolically  represented  as 
having  ten  horns,X  because  such  was  the  original  num- 
ber into  which  his  empire  was  divided  ;  asyo^^r  was  the 
original  number  into  which  the  em^\xe  oi  the  he-goat 
was  divided.  "  Though  the  kingdom  of  Alexander," 
says  Bp.  Newton,  "  was  divided  mto  four  principal  parts, 
yet  only  two  of  them  have  a  place  allotted  in  Daniel's 
last  prophecy  of  the  things  noted  in  the  Scripture  of 
truth,  Egypt  and  Syria.  These  two  were  by  far  the 
greatest  and  most  considerable  :  and  these  two  at  one 
time  were  in  a  manner  the  only  remaining  kingdoms  of 
the  four  :  the  kingdom  of  Macedoii  having  been  con- 
quered by  Lysimachus  and  annexed  to  Thrace  ;  and 
Lysimachus  again  having  been  conquered  by  Seleucus, 

*  This  will  shew  us  the  reason  why  the  Roman  Least  is  represented  as  being  coia^ 
pounded  of  a  lion,  a  bear,  and  a  leopard.  (Rev.  xiii.  2.)  His  empire  comprehended 
the  greatest  part  of  the  dominions  of  the  Babylonian  lion,  the  Medo-Persian  bear,  and  the 
Macedonian  leopard ;  in  addition  to  which  he  had  ten  horns  or  kingdoms  ul  his  peculiar 
sovereignty  in  the  West. 

^  S?e  Rev.  xvj,  19,  Concerning  this  earthquake  more  will  bfi  said  hereafter. 
\  See  Rev.  ivii  1  (h 


us 

and  the  hin^dnms  of  Macedon  and  Thrace  annexed  to 
Sijriay*  5ucli  being  the  fate  of  two  out  of  the  four 
horns  of  the  he-goat^  I  know  not  why  some  expositors 
stiould  apparently  think  themselves  bound  to  labour  to 
discover  ten  horns  for  the  Roman  beast  at  any  other  pe- 
riod except  that  vt'hen  his  empire  was  originalhj  divided. ■]• 
Machiavel,  as  we  have  seen,  merely  as  a  political  histo- 
rian, and  without  the  least  intention  of  supporting  a  fa- 
vourite system,  informs  us,  that  the  empire  was  broken 
by  the  northern  nations  into  precisely  ten  primarij  king-' 
doins.  This  circumstance  alone  therefore  issutficient  for 
the  completion  of  the  prophecy,  that  the  ten  horns  of 
the  fourth  beast  are  ten  kings  that  shall  arise  out  of  his 
kingdom  ',%  just  as  the  division  of  Alexander's  empire  m- 
to  four  kingdoms  was  alone  sufficient  for  the  completion 
of  the  prophecy,  \\\2X  four  kingdoms  should  stand  up  out 
of  his  nation. §  The  special  badge  of  the  he-goat  is  his 
four  horns^  and  the  special  badge  of  the  Roma?/,  beast  is 
his  ten  horns  ;  although  both  these  numbers  afterwards 
varied.  Hence  we  may  just  as  reasonably  expect,  that 
the  Macedonian  beast  should  always  have  four  horns 
during  the  whole  period  of  his  existence  after  their  rise, 
becauseybwr  horns  are  said  to  liave  sprung  up  out  of 
him  when  his  great  horn  was  broken  ;  as  that  the  Ro' 
man  beast  should  always  have  ten  ho?'ns  dunng  the  whole 
period  of /z/^  existence  after  their  rise,  because  when  his 
empire  was  divided  exactly  ten  kings  were  to  arise  out 
of  it.  The  two  symbols  are,  in  fact,  each  formed  from 
a  view  of  the  pnmari/  division  of  the  Macedonian  and 
Roman  empires  ;  nor  was  it  designed,  nor  indeed  was  it 
possible,  that  they  should  be  exhibited  as  perpetually 
varying  with  the  ever  varying  revolutions  of  nations. 
On  these  grounds  1  think  it  of  very  little  consequence 
to  the  completion  of  the  prophecy  to  have  discovered, 
that  there  were  ten  kingdoms  in  M^  y^«r  1210  at  the 
time  of  the  diet  of  Ratisbon  ;  ten  likewise  at  the  Refor- 

*  Dissert,  xvi. 

+  Sir  Isaac  Newton  very  justly  remarks,  that,  "  whatever  was  their  number 
afterwards,  they  are  still  called  the  ten  kings  from  their  first  number."  Observ.  on 
baniel,  C  vi,  p.  73. 

I  Dan.  vii.  34.  §  Dan.  viii.  22. 


149 

mation  ;  and  ten  also  in  the  year  1706.*  The  ten  horns 
o^  the  Roman  beast  are  certainly  the  ten  primary  king- 
doms enumerated  by  Machiavel  ;  and,  since  three  of  the 
^rst  horns  were  to  be  plucked  up  before  the  little  horn^ 
we  must  seek  for  those  three  horns  among  the  ten  pri- 
mary kingdoms  :  how  the  empire  Avas  afterxQards  divid- 
ed is  a  matter  of  no  great  moment;  its  subsequent  po- 
litical revolutions  affect  not  in  the  slightest  degree  the 
accuracy  of  the  prophecy. 


CHAPTER    V. 

Concerning  the  vision  of  the  ram  and  the  he-goat,  and  the 
little  horn  oj  the  he-goat. 

NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S  dream  of  the  image, 
and  Daniel's  vision  oi  the  four  beasts  and  the  little  horn 
oJ" the  fourth  beast,  contain  predictions  relative  to  the 
four  great  empires  and  the  domineering  tyranny  of  the 
Papacif.  These  matters  so  important  to  the  Church 
having  been  clearly  set  forth,  the  Holy  Spirit,  now  pur- 
posing to  describe  the  exploits  of  another  great  enemy  tc 
Christianity  ;  recalls,  in  the  vision  of  the  ram  and  the  he- 
gout,  the  attention  of  Daniel  to  the  second  and  third  em- 
pires, whose  prophetic  history  had  been  already  detailed, 
for  the  purpose  of  introducing  another  little  horn,  which 
was  to  come  out  oi  one  of  the  principal  horns  of  the  Ma- 
cedonian beast,  2l%  the  former  little  horn  sprung  up  among 
the  ten  hrns  of  the  Roman  beast. 

In  Daniel's  vision  oi  the  ram  and  the  he-goat,  the  ram 
symbolizes  the  same  power  as  the  bear  mentioned  in  the 
preceding  vision  ;  and  the  he-goat,  the  same  poKer  ^isthe 
leopard.  The  ram  therefore,  standing  before  the  river, 
\%  the  Medo-Persian  empire ;  and  his  tioo  horns  2CiQ  the 
two  kingdoms  of  Media  and  Persia  :  the  higher  one, 

*  ^ee  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  xlr. 


150 

which  came  up  last,  being  Persia,  the  head  of  the  em- 
pire ;  and  the  lower  one,  which  came  up  first  being  Media, 
united  with,  though  subjected  to,  Persia.  The  ra}n  ex- 
tended his  conquests  zc^esfward,  northioard,  and  south- 
Xi)ard :  zoestward,  as  far  as  the  extreme  hmits  of  Asia  ; 
northward,  over  Armenia,  and  Cappadocia  ;  and  south- 
ward, over  Egypt,  and  as  far  as  the  Persian  gulph.  East- 
ward he  made  comparatively  but  httle  progress,  being 
stopped  by  the  vast  deserts  of  Tartary,  and  the  mighty 
empire  of  Hindostan. 

In  the  plenitude  of  his  power  however,  and  at  the 
very  time  when  no  other  beast  could  stand  before  him, 
he  was  attacked  by  an  unexpected  enemy,  the  he-goat, 
or  the  Macedonian  empire.  Moving  with  unexampled 
rapidity  from  the  West,  the  founder  of  this  mighty  sove- 
reignty soon  completely  overthrew  the  ram,  and  broke 
his  tzco  horns.  After  this  daring  exploit,  the  he-goat 
"  waxed  very  great,"  extending  his  arms  even  into  Hin- 
dostan, as  well  as  subjugating  Egypt  and  all  the  other 
dominions  of ///e;-ora.  But,  notwithstanding  this  sudden 
and  astonishing  asquisition  of  power,  his  great  horn  was 
destined  to  be  broken  even  in  the  very  height  of  his 
strength.  Accordingly,  the  imperial  dynasty  of  M^^r^«^ 
horn  lasted  no  more  than  fifteen  years  after  the  death  of 
Alexander  ;  within  which  short  space  of  time  his  suc- 
cessors, Philip  Arideus,  Alexander  Egus,  and  Hercules, 
were  all  murdered.  After  them  the  empire  was  divided 
into  four  kingdoms,  typified  by  the  four  horns  of  the 
goat,  and  the  four  heads  of  the  leopard  mex\i\QX\eA  in  the 
preceding  vision.  Cassander  held  Macedon  and  Greece  ; 
Lysimachus  had  Thrace  and  Bithijnia ;  Ptolemy  made 
himself  master  of /?§•//;:>/ ;  and  Seleucus  obtained  Sijria 
and  the  East.  Thus  exactly  was  fulfilled  the  prophecy, 
X\\?Li  four  kingdoms  should  arise  out  of  Alexander's  em- 
pire, governed  by  princes  of  his  own  nation,  though  nei- 
ther of  his  own  family,  nor  with  power  equal  to  that 
which  lie  had  possessed. 

Hitherto  all  commentators  are  agreed  ;  but  there  has 
been  the  same  discrepancy  of  opinion  respecting  the  little 
horn  of  the  he-goaf,  as  the  llltlc  horn  of  the  fourth  beast 
whose  prophetic  history  we  last  considered.    Bp.  Newton 


161 

observes,  that  the  generality  of  expositors,  both  ancient 
and  modern,  Jewish  and  Cliristian,  have  referred  the  ex- 
ploits o(this  second  little  hum  to  Aiitiochus  Epiphanes  ;* 
but  this  opinion  has  been  so  amply  refuted  both  by  him- 
self and  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  that  it  would  be  superfluous 
for  me  to  do  more  than  barely  mention  that  it  has  exist- 
ed. I  am  inclined  to  think  however,  that  these  two  em- 
inent writers  have  been  more  successful  in  combating 
the  formerly  received  interpretation,  than  in  establishing 
their  own.  They  both  contend,  that  the  little  horn^  is 
the  Roman  empire ;  and  that  it  became  the  little  horn  of 
the  he-goat  by  subduing  Macedon  and  Greece  :  that  this 
supposition  is  strengthened  by  the  progress  of  the  Roman 
conquests  from  Mucedon  ;  which,  like  those  oi  the  little 
horn^  extended  towards  the  souths  the  cast^  and  the  pleas- 
ant land  :  and  that  lastly  it  is  decidedly  established  by 
the  circumstance  of //ze ///^/e  /?or«  being  represented  as 
standing  up  against  the  Prince  of  princes^  as  taking  awaij 
the  duilif  sacrifice^  and  as  planting  the  abomination  of 
desolation  in  the  sanctuari/,  which  our  Lord  himself  refers 
to  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem  b/j  the  Romans. 

1  readily  allow,  that  these  points  of  resemblance  are 
very  striking;  nevertheless  it  will  be  found  upon  exam- 
ination, that  there  are  insuperable  objections,  principally 
of  a  chronological  nature,  to  this  exposition  of  the  pro- 
phecy. 

1.  Thefrst  objection^  that  may  be  urged  against  it,  is 
the  improbability, that  the  same  power  ^ssMxch.  in  the  former 
vision  was  represented  under  the  symbol  of  a  great  and 
terrible  beast,  should  now  be  described  under  that  of  on- 
ly a  little  horn.  In  prophetic  imagery  there  is  to  the 
full  as  exact  a  discrimination  of  ideas  as  in  ordinary  lan- 
guage ;  otherwise,  as  I  have  already  sufficiently  proved, 
there  couldhe  no  definiteness  and  precision  in  any  of  the 
symbolical  predictions.  Accordingly  we  shall  find,  that 
an  universal  empire  is  never  symbolized  by  a  horn,'\  but 


^  See  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  xv.  and  Pol.  Synop.  in  loc. 

f  It  may  perhaps  be  thought,  that /.6f  |-r^a<  Zior«  oithe  hs-goat  is  an  exception  to 
this  rule,  inasmuch  as  it  represents,  not  a  kingdom  springing  out  of  th:  Macedonian 
empire,  h\lt  the  imperial  dynasty  of  Alexander  which  presided  over  the  TO^o/f  empire, 
-rhis  objection  however  will  vanish, when  we  CGnsider,that,if  a  bs.tst  be  described  with 


152 

ahvays  by  a  beast;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  that  a  Icings 
doni^  sjDringing  out  of  such  an  empire  when  it  ooaies  to 
be  divided,  is  never  symbolized  by  a  heasty  but  always 
by  a  horn.  On  these  grounds,  I  can  scarcely  think  it 
possible,  that  fhe  Roman  eiiipire  should  be  represented, 
in  one  vision,  as  ?i  fourth  distinct  beast ;  and,  in  another, 
as  only  a  little  horn  of  the  he-^^oat^  which  typifies  the 
same  pozcer  as  the  leopard,  or  third  beust^  of  the  former 
vision.  1  know,  that  Sir  Isaac  and  Bp.  Newton  argue, 
that,  when  the  Romans  conquered  Macedon,  they  became 
in  that  capacity  a  little  horn  of  the  third  or  Macedonian 
beast ;  while,  in  the  mean  time,  so  long  as  we  ct^nsider 
them  confined  to  Italy  and  the  V\^est,  they  are  to  be  ac- 
counted a  distinct  fourth  beast.  But,  if  this  mode  of  in- 
terpretation be  allowable,  the  confusion,  which  it  must 
introduce,  will  be  endless  :  for,  upon  the  same  principle, 
as  soon  as  the  Greeks  have  conquered  a  single  Persian 
proiince,  we  must  begin,  in  a  similar  manner,  to  reckon 
them  a  horn  of  the  second,  or  Persian  beast :  whence  it 
will  necessarily  follow,  that  the  two  Greek  kingdoms  of 
Syria  and  Egypt  being  originally  provinces  of  Persia^ 
must  for  that  reason  be  accounted  horns  o^  the  same  sec- 
ond beast ;  not,  as  they  are  represented  by  the  prophet, 
horns  of  the  third,  or  Macedonian  beast. 

2.  Another  objection  against  it  is,  that  it  renders  Dan- 
iel liable  to  the  charge  of  unvarying  repetition.  In  the 
dream  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  the  history  of  the  four  em^ 
pires  \s  simpli/  detailed,  without  the  introduction,  if  I 
may  use  the  expression,  of  any  episodical  matter.  In 
the  vision  of  the  four  beasts,  the  history  of  the  same  four 
empires  is  repeated,  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  the 
exploits  o^  the  little  horn  of  the  fourth  beast.  In  the  vi- 
sion of  the  ram  and  the  he-goat,  the  history  of  the  second 
and  third  empires  is  again  repeated,  for  the  similar  pur- 
pose of  noticing  in  its   proper  place  the   tyranny  of  the 

only  one  h'.rn,  that  horn  must  necessarily  be  identified  with  the  beast  itself;  because, 
as  the  circumstance  of  there  being  more  than  one  horn  shews  that  the  empire  is  in  a 
divided  state,  so  tlie  circumstance  of  there  being  no  more  than  one  horn  shews  that 
the  empire  is  in  an  undivided  state.  When  a  beast  therefore  has  more  horns  thaQ 
o/vr,  those  horns  typify  k'mgdoms  ;  but,  when  a  beast  has  no  mere  than  0/71?  horn,  it  is 
evident,  that  that  fjor/i  cannot  signify  a  lingdom,  because  the  eir.pire  is  yet  undivided  : 
it  remains  consequently,  that  the  .'ingU  horn  must  be  identified  with  the  beast,  and 
Signity  the  dynasty  by  ivLich  he  is gorjerned. 


153 

third  beasf  s  little  horn.     And,  in  the  last  of  DaniePs  vi- 
sions, a  detailed  account  is  given  of  the  wars  beticeen  the 
Greek  kings  oj"  Syria  and  Egiipt,  and  of  the  Roman  con- 
quests in  the  East,  in  order  that  we  may  be  conducted 
in  strict  chronological  succession   to  the  super-eminent 
wickedness  of  the  king,  who  zvas  to  exalt  himself  above 
every  god.    From  this  statement  then  it  is  evident,  that, 
if  the  little  horn  of  the  he-goat  or  third  beast   be  the 
Roman  empire,  the  vision  of  the  ram  and  the  he-goat  is 
a  mere  repetition  of  the  greater  part  of  the  vision  of  the 
Jour  beasts ;  the  only  additional   circumstance   that  is 
mentioned  being  the  sacking  of  Jerusalem,  which  itself 
is  repeated  in  the  subsequent  vision,  if  we   adopt   the 
opinion,  that  the  abomination  or  transgression  of  desola- 
tion, predicted  by  Daniel  in  each  of  these  visions,  signifies 
in  both  cases  the  Roman  profanation  of  the  Jeivish  temple. 
3.   The  last  and  most  sei^ious  objection  however  against 
the  interpretation  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton  and  the  Bishop  is, 
that  it  cannot  be  reconcded  with   Daniel's  chronological 
numbers.     The  prophet,  as  I  have  just  observed,  men- 
tions the  abomination  or  transgression  of  desolation  in  two 
successive  visions  ;  that  of  the  ram  and  the  he-goat,  and 
that  of  the  things  "  tioted  in  the  Scripture  of  truth  ;"* 
and  he  afterwards  speaks  of  it  yet  a  third  time  in  connec- 
tion with  certain  chronological  n umbers. •!•  Now  our  Lord 
declares,  that  the  abomi?iation  of  desolation,  spoken  of  by 
Daniel,  relates  to  the  sacking  of  Jerusalem  :  and   the 
authority  of  such  an   expositor  of  prophecy  who  shall 
presume  to  question  ?  The  state  of  the  case  then  is,  as 
follows  :  the  phrase  of  abomination  or   transgression  of 
desolation  occurs  three  times  in  the  book  of  Daniel  :  did 
our  Lord  mean  to  intimate,   that,  zvherever  it  occurred 
in  this  book,  it  always  related  to  the  sacking  of  Jerusa- 
lem ;  or  that  it  was  only  to  be  referred  to  that  event  in 
one  or  in  two  instances  out  of  the  three  !  This  question, 
must  be  resolved  by  a  careful  comparison  of  these  sev- 
eral prophecies  of  Daniel  with  each  other. 

When  Daniel  speaks  of  arms,  like  those  of  a  man,  (an 
apt  symbol  of  «  powerful  and  -warlike  state,  J  stajiding  up 

*  Dan.  -nu.  13.  and  xi.  .'^1.  f  Dan.  zii.  11,  12. 

VOL.  I.  20 


Io4 

after  the  days  of  the  northern  king  of  Syria,  polluting 
the  sanctuary,  taking  away  the  daily  sacrifice,  and  setting 
up  the  abomination  that  maketh  desolate  :*  there  cannot 
be  a  doubt,  but  that  by  those  nervous  and  mighty  arms 
the  Homan  empire  is  symbolized  ;  both  because  the  east- 
ern conquests  of  that  repubhc  followed  the  preceding 
events  in  regular  succession  of  time,  and  because  the 
subsequent  events  foretold  in  the  prophecy  followed  the 
eastern  conquests  of  Rome  with  the  same  chronological 
regularity.  Hence  we  may  safely  conclude,  -that  the 
tibominatioi  of  desolation,  there  mentioned,  \9.  the  abomina- 
tion of  desolation  which  our  Lord  applied  to  the  Romans.f 

Hilhf  rto  the  subject  is  sufficiently  clear  :  but  we  must 
now  endeavour  to  determine,  whether  the  transgression 
of  desolation,  connected  with  the  litt'e  horn  of  the  third 
beast  or  the  he-goat,  be  the  same  as  tlie  abonwiation  of 
desolation,  set  up  by  the  warlike  arms  of  the  Roman  em- 
pire m  the  temple  of  Jerusalem. 

When  Daniel  mentions  the  abomination  of  desolation 
the  third  and  last  time,  he  merely  attaches  to  it  certain 
«?i;;wZ>(?/\?,  evidently  speaking  of  it  as  a  thing  which  he  had 
already  noticed  in  a  preceding  part  of  his  prophecies. 
Such  being  the  case,  this  last  mentioned  abomination  of 
desolation  must  be  the  same  as  either  the  abomination  of 
desolation,  connected  with  the  little  horn  of  the  he-goat ; 
the  abomination  of  desolation,  set  up  by  the  arms  of  the 
Roman  empire  ;  or,  lastly,  as  both  these  abominations  of 
desolation,  considered  as  one  and  the  same.  Sir  Isaac 
Newton  and  the  Bishop  do  conceive  them  to  be  one  and 
the  same  :  for  they  maintain,  that  they  both  equally  re- 
late to  the  sacking  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans,  and  their 
idolatrous  zd'orship  of  their  standards  within  the  very  pre- 
cincts of  the  temple. 

If  then  they  be  the  same,  the  last  mentioned  abomina- 
tion of  desolation  must  be  the  same  likewise:  in  other 
words,  all  the  three  abominations  of  desolation,  predicted 
by  Daniel,  must  be  equally  referred  to  the  sacking  of 
Jerusalem  by  the  Romans  ;  for  we  have  already  seen, 

*  Dan.  xi.  31. 
f  The  same  Roman  abomhiation  of  d:solation  IS  described,  along  with  the  destmctiou 
of  Jcru3ale;n,  m  Daniel's  prophecy  of  the  70  ivedj.    See  Dan.  is.  24 — 27. 


133 

that  the  last  mentioned  abomination  must  be  the  same  as 
either  the  one,  or  the  other,  or  both,  of  the  two  former 
fibominations .  But,  if  all  the  three  abominations  of  deso- 
lation are  to  be  considered  as  relating  to  one  and  t he  same 
event,  namely,  the  sacking  of  Jerusalem  bij  the  Romans ; 
then  the  chronological  numbers,  attached  to  the  last  men- 
tioned  abomination,  will  be  found  perfectly  to  harmonize 
with  the  era  of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  :  for,  if  thei/  do 
not  harmonize  with  that  era,  the  abomination  connected 
with  them  cannot  possibly  relate  to  that  era:  and,  if  the 
last  mentioned  abomination,  connected  with  those  num- 
bers, do  not  relate  to  that  era,  then  neither  can  one  out 
of  the  two  former  abominations  relate  to  that  era  ;  inas- 
much as  the  last  mentioned  abomination  must  be  the  same 
as  either  the  one,  or  the  other,  or  both,  of  the  two  former 
abominations  of  desolation. 

These  matters  being  premised,  we  will  next  consider 
how  far  the  numbers,  attached  to  the  last  mentioned  abom- 
ination of  desolation,  will  harmonize  with  the  era  of  the 
siege  of  Jerusalem. 

We  are  informed  then  by  Daniel,  that,  at  the  end  of 
a  time,  and  times,  and  half  a  time,  or  1260  years,  the  res- 
toration of  the  Jews  will  commence  ;  and  that  all  the 
matters  comprehended  within  the  period  of  the  wonders 
will  be  finished  :  that  "  from  the  time  that  the  daily 
sacrifice  shall  be  taken  aioay,  and  the  abomination  that 
maketh  desolate  set  up,  there  shall  be  1290  years'''  to 
some  event  or  another,  which  however  he  does  not  spe- 
cify :  and  that  "  blessed  is  he,  that  vvaiteth,  and  cometh 
to  the  1335  years''  after  the  time  vi'hen  the  abomination 
of  desolation  shall  be  set  up.* 

Such  are  \\\q  numbers,  which  the  prophet  has  connect- 
ed with  the  last  mentioned  abomination  of  desolation  ; 
numbers,  which  by  no  efforts  of  calculation  can  be  made 
to  harmonize  with  the  era  of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem. 
The  capital  of  Palestine  was  taken  by  the  Romans,  and 
one  o{  the  abominations  of  desolation  spoken  of  by  Daniel 
was  set  up  by  them  in  the  holy  place,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  70. f  The  Jews  however  were  certainly  not  begin- 
ning to  be  restored   to  their  own   country,  neither  were 

*  Dan.  xii,  7,  1 1 ,  ]  2.  f  Chronol.  of  Univ.  Hist.  p.  569. 


166 

all  the  matters  which  are  comprehended  within  the  period 
of  the  wonders  finished,  in  the  year  1330,  or  \'260  years 
after  the  sacking  of  Jerusalem  :  nor  is  it  easy  to  say 
what  particular  event,  to  which  the  prophet  might  possi- 
bly alkjde,  happened /«  the  year  1360,  or  1^90  yeais 
after  the  saime  epoch  :  nor  yet  shall  we  be  able,  without 
the  exertion  of  extraordinary  ingenuity,  to  point  out  the 
peculiar  blessedness  of  living  in  the  year  1405,  or  1335 
years  after  the  Romans  had  set  up  the  abomination  of 
desolation  in  the  temple  and  had  taken  away  the  daily 
sacrifice* 

Thus  it  is  abundantly  manifest,  that  the  abomination 
of  desolation  last  mentioned  by  Daniel^  cannot  possibly 
be  the  same  as  the  abomination  of  desolation  set  up  by  the 
Romans^  and  alluded  to  by  our  Lord  :  that  is  to  say,  it 
cannot  be  the  same  as  the  abomination  of  desolation^  set 
up  by  certain  symbolical  arms,  which  were  to  invade  the 
East,  after  the  days  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes.-j-  But,  if 
it  be  not  the  same  as  the  abomination  of  desolation  set  up 
by  the  symbolical  arms  of  Rome,  it  must  be  the  same  as 
the  abomination  of  desolation  connected  zcith  the  little  horn 
of  the  he-i^oat  :  for  it  is  scarcely  probable,  that  Daniel 
should  speak  oi  some  third  abomination  of  desolation,  en- 
tirely distinct  from  the  two  former  ones  ;  and  yet  should 
give  us  no  sort  of  intimation  by  whom  this  supposed  dis- 
tinct third  abomination  should  be  set  up.  If  then  the 
last  mentioned  abomination  of  desolation  be  the  same  as 
the  abomination  of  desolation  connected  with  the  little  horn 
of  the  he-goaf,  (and  there  is  no  other  mentioned  in  the 
whole  book  of  Daniel,  excepting  this,  with  which  it  can 

*  The  computation  ■will  answer  no  better  even  if  it  be  made  from  the  year  130, 
when  Jerusalem  was  finally  destroyed  by  Adrian.  This  event  however  certainly 
cannot  be  alluded  to  by  our  Lord  ;  both  because  he  declares  that  the  abomination  of 
desolation  spoken  of  by  Daniel  should  stand  in  the  holy  place  before  that  generation 
had  passed  away,  and  because  he  warns  his  disciples  to  flee  from  Jerusalem  when 
they  beheld  it  compassed  with  armies.  Jerusalem  accordingly  was  sacked  before 
that  generation  did  pass  away ;  and  the  Christians,  profiting  by  the  prediction  of 
their  master,  saved  their  lives  by  flit^ht.  These  circumstances  decidedly  prove, 
that  our  Lord's  prophecy  relates  to  the  days  of  Titus.  See  Matt.  sxiv.  15—20,  34. 
and  Luke  xxi.  20 — 24,  32. 

f  Bp.  Newton  very  justly  applies  the  three  verses  immediately  preceding  the  men- 
tion of  the  symbolical  Roman  arms  to  the  history  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes  :  consequently 
the  abomination,  set  up  by  these  arms,  must  of  course  be  posterior  to  the  days  of  that 
tyrant.  (See  Dissert,  xvii.)  '=  And  after  him  (Antiochus)  arms  shall  stand  up." 
^an.  xi.  3  J. 


167 

be  identified)  it  will  necessarily  follow,  that  the  little 
horn's  abomination  of  desolation  must  be  something  en^ 
tirelif  distinct  from  the  abomination  of  desolation  set  up  bij 
the  symbolical  arms  :  consequently,  since  the  abomination 
of  the  little  horn  is  not  the  same  as  the  abomination  set 
up  by  the  arms^  the  little  horn  itself  must  be  some  power 
totally  dijferent  from  the  power  symbolized  by  the  arms  : 
but  the  arms  are  allowed  by  every  commentator  to  sym- 
bolize the  Romans^  and  no  one  ever  yet  doubted  that  the 
abomination  which  they  set  up  is  the  very  abomination 
alluded  to  by  our  Lord  :  therefore,  finally,  since  the  little 
horn  is  not  the  same  as  the  symbolical  arms,  it  certainly 
cannot  be  the  same  as  the  Roman  empire  in  the  East. 

On  these  grounds,  which  to  myself  at  least  appear 
satisfactory,  1  am  obliged  to  dissent  in  toto  from  the 
interpretation  proposed  by  Sir  Isaac  and  Bishop  New- 
ton. The  eastern  conquests  of  the  Romans  are  very 
fully  predicted  in  the  e'eventh  chapter  of  DaniePs  proph- 
ecies ;*  but  they  cannot,  for  the  preceding  chronological 
reasons,  be  at  all  alluded  to  in  the  tii)elfth  chapter  and  in 
the  history  of  the  little  horn  of  the  he-goat. 

Before  I  dismiss  this  part  of  my  subject,  I  cannot  re- 
frain from  observing,  that  the  force  of  Daniel's  chrono- 
logical numbers,  which  I  have  so  largely  insisted  upon, 
has  in  a  manner  compelled  Bp.  Newton,  notwithstand- 
ing his  previous  interpretation  of  the  vision  of  the  ram 
and  the  he-goat.,  to  notice,  among  various  other  conjec- 
tures, what  i  am  persuaded  is  the  true  exposition  of  the 
abomination  of  desolation  connected  ivith  tJie  little  horn^ 
as  contradistinguished  from  the  Roman  abomination  of 
desolation.  "  The  setting  up"  says  he,  "  of  the  abomi- 
nation of  desolation  appears  to  be  a  general  phrase,  and 
comprehensive  of  various  events.  It  is  applied  by  the 
writer  of  the  first  book  of  Maccabees  to  the  profanation 
of  the  temple  by  Antiochus,  and  his  setting  up  the  image 
of  Jupiter  Olympius  upon  the  altar  of  God.'\  It  is  ap- 
plied by  our  Saviour^  to  the  destruction  of  the  city  and 

*  Ver.  30,  31.  f  1  Mac.  J.  54. 

\  It  is  more  than  merely  applied :  our  Lord  expressly  pronounces,  that  tie  approaching 
profanation  of  the  temple  by  the  Romans  was  the  event  intended  by  some  one  of  the  abomina- 
tions of  desolation  mentioned  by  the  prophet  Daniel.  The  abominaticr.  to  which  oiu' 
Lord  alluded,  is,  as  we  have  seen,  that  predicted  in  Dan.  x\.  ?>\. 


lo8 

temple  by  the  Romans,  under  the  conduct  of  Titus,  in  the 
reign  of  Vespasian.*  It  may  for  the  sanne  reason  be  ap- 
phed  to  the  Roman  Emperor  Adrian^s  building  a  temple 
to  Jupiter  Capitolinus,  in  the  same  place  where  the  iem- 
jyle  of  God  had  stood ;  and  to  the  misery  of  the  Jews, 
and  the  desolation  of  Judea,  that  followed.  It  maij  imth 
equal  justice  be  applied  to  the  Mohammedans  invading 
and  desolating  Christendom,  and  converting  the  churches 
tnto  mosques  :  and  this  latter  event  secmeth  to  have  been 
particularly  intended  in  this  passage.-^  If  this  intepret- 
ation  be  true,  the  religion  of  Mohammed  loill  prevail  in 
the  East  the  space  of  12G0  years:  and  then  a  great  and 
glorious  revolution  will  follow ;  perhaps  the  restoration  of 
the  Jews,  perhaps  the  destruction  of  Antichrist :  but  an- 
other still  greater  and  more  glorious  imll  succeed ;  and 
what  can  this  be  so  probably  as  the  full  conversion  of  the 
gentiles  to  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  the  beginning  of  the 
millenniuni  or  reign  of  the  saints  upon  earth  ?  for,  bless- 
ed is  he,  that  waiteth  and  cometh  to  the  1335  days.^'% 

Mr.  Kett,  in  his  exposition  of  the  vision  of  the  ram  and 
the  ^^-^^oa/,  supposes  the  little  horn  of  the  he-goat  ov  Mace- 
donian empire  primarily  to  mean  the  Mohammedan  Aposta- 
cy  of  the  F.ast,  and  ultimately  the  Gallic  Infidelity  of  the 
West.  This  opinion  however  he  maintains,  without  wish- 
ing to  invalidate  the  former  applications  of  the  prophecy 
l)oth  to  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  and  to  the  Romans.  In 
short,  unless  1  have  entirely  mistaken  his  meaning,  the 
little  horn  of  t lie  he-goat  was  designed  by  the  prophet  to 
typify  no  less  thmi  four  distinct  powers;  Antiochus  Epi- 
phanes, the  Roman  empire  in  the  East,  the  Mohammedan 
superstition,  and  the  infidel  republic  of  Fra7ice.^  Had 
Mr.  Kelt  confined  the  application  of  this  symbol  to  the 
false  religion  of  Mohammed,  I  could  have  given  my  hearty 
assent  to  his  scheme  :  but  unfortunately  he  has  mar- 
red his  whole  exposition,  by  involving  the  prophecy  re- 
specting the  little  horn  of  the  he-goal  or  third  beast  in  the 
same  perplexing  confusion  of  primary  and  secondary  and 
nltimate  accomplishments,   as   he  had  previously  done 

*  Matt.  xxiv.  15.  f  Dfin.  xli.  11.  |  Dissert,  xvii. 

§  I-Iisi.  the  Inter.  Vol.  1.  p.  34G— 3Jf>,  "GO. 


U9 

that  respecting  the  little  horn  of  the  fourth  beast.  So  lax 
a  mode  of  interpretation  as  this  ought  ever  to  be  vvarm- 
Iv  protested  against,  because  it  utterly  destroys  all  de- 
finiteness  and  precision  in  the  sacred  oracles.  \{  the 
same  prophecy  may  be  construed  to  relate  to  so  many  to- 
tally different  periods  and  events^  we  must  bid  an  ever- 
lasting farewell  to  all  certainty  of  exposition.  So  far  as 
any  knowledge  is  concerned  that  lee  can  derive  from  a 
prophecy  of  such  a  nature,  it  must,  so  long  as  this  world 
endures,  remain  to  us  a  sealed  book.  Sir  Isaac  Newton 
and  the  bishop  have  amply  refuted  the  opinion,  that  the 
little  horn  of  the  he-goat  is  Antiochus  Epiphanes  :  and, 
how  far  their  application  of  it  to  the  Roman  empire  be 
tenable,  the  reader  must  judge  for  himself  from  what 
has  been  said  upon  that  subject.  As  for  Mr.  Kett^s  con- 
jecture, that  it  relates  ultimately  to  the  infidel  power  of 
France^  it  will  be  sufficient  to  observe  respecting  it,  that 
a  horn,  which  was  to  spring  up  in  the  East,  can  never 
be  designed  to  typify  a  power,  which  has  arisen  m  Mc 
West.  In  the  right  interpretation  of  prophecy  it  is  not 
enough  to  discover  mere yja>V/a/ resemblances,  and  thence 
to  infer  that  such  a  symbol  belongs  to  such  an  event:  be- 
fore we  venture  to  decide,  we  ought  to  point  out  a  per- 
feet  similitude  between  the  type  D.nd  its  antitype,  a  simil- 
itude of  such  a  nature  as  utterly  to  exclude  all  events 
which  will  not  tally  in  every  respect  with  the  symbolical 
history  under  consideration.  Thus,  in  the  present  in- 
stance, Antiochus  Epiphanes  has  some  features  which 
very  much  resemble  those  o^  the  little  horn;  but  the  pe- 
riod of  his  persecution  cannot  be  accommodated  either 
to  the  2300  days  mentioned  in  the  vision  of  the  ram  and 
the  he-goat  or  to  the  three  prophetic  periods  of  1260., 
129u,  a)id  1335,  days,  specified  towards  the  conclusion 
of  Daniel's  last  vision,  even  if  those  days,  contrary  to  the 
whole  method  of  prophecy,  be  computed  as  natural  ones: 
therefore  the  little  horn  cannot  be  Antiochus  Epiphanes. 
So  again  :  the  Romans  have  many  features  in  common 
with  the  little  horn,  insomuch  that  the  grand  character- 
istic of  both  is  designated  by  the  very  same  phrase  of 
setting  up  the  abomination  of  desolation  ;  yet  the  era  of 
the  sacking  of  Jerusalem  can  in  no  wise  be  reconciled 


160 

with  the  periods  of  X^GO^  1990,  and  \335,  i/ears:  there- 
fore the  little  horn  cannot  be  the  Roman  empire*  Lastly, 
the  impious  wretches^  who  converted  France  into  an  athe* 
istical  democracy,  have  doubtless,  like  the  Utile  horn, 
waxed  great  against  the  host  of  heaven,  have  magnified 
themselves  even  against  the  prince  of  the  host,  and  have 
cast  down  the  truth  to  the  ground  ;  nevertheless,  those 
hardened  miscreants,  Voltaire  and  his  associates,  did  not 
arise  in  the  East,  but  in  the  West,  and  the  period  of  the 
French  revolution  can  as  little  be  accommodated  to  the 
prophetic  numbers  as  either  of  the  two  foregoing  periods  : 
therefore  French  Injidelitij  cannot  be  the  little  horn. 

1  shall  now  endeavour  to  ascertain,  what  that  power 
is,  which  alone  is  designated  by  this  si/mbol. 

Daniel  informs  us,  in  his  account  of  the  vision  of  the 
ram  and  the  he-goat,  that  he  heard  a  certain  saint  inquir- 
ing, "  For  how  long  a  time  shall  the  vision  last,  the  daily 
sacrifice  be  taken  away,  and  the  transgression  of  desola- 
tion continue,  to  give  both  the  sanctuary  and  the  host  to 
be  trodden  under  foot?"  The  answer  made  to  this  quest- 
ion was,  "  Unto  tzvo  thousand  and  three  hundred  days  i'^ 
or,  as  the  Seventy  read,  "  two  thousand  four  hundred 
daifs ;"  or  as  certain  copies  mentioned  by  Jerome  read, 
*'  two  thousand  two  hundred  daijs  :  then  shall  the  sanc- 
tuary be  cleansed/*  Bp.  Newton  doubts,  whether  Me^e 
prophetic  days  are  to  be  calculated  from  the  establishment 
vj"  the  Persian  empire,  from  the  invasion  of  Asia  bi/  Alex- 
ander, or  from  the  beginning  of  the  history  of  the  little 
horn.  Whatever  doubt  there  may  be  upon  this  point, 
and  whatever  difficulty  there  may  be  in  ascertaining 
which  of  the  three  readings  is  the  true  one,  I  cannot  but 
think  it  sufficiently  evident,  both  that  the  1260  days  are 
a  certain  part  of  the  2300  days,  and  that  these  two  periods 
exactly  terminate  together  in  the  self  same  year.  We 
are  expressly  told,  that  the  vision  of  the  ram  and  the  he- 
goat,  whenever  it  begins,  reaches  to  the  time  of  the  end  :'\ 

*  I  have  already  assigned  other  reasons,  besides  this  chronological  one,  why  it  is 
scarcely  probable,  that  the  he-goat's  litiU  horn  should  have  been  designed  to  symbol- 
ize the  Romans. 

f  "  Understand,  O  son  of  man,  for  the  vision  shall  reach  even  unto  the  time  of 
the  end — it  shall  reach  even  to  the  appointed  time  of  the  end."     Dan.  viii.  17,  19. 


i6i 

and  we  are  no  less  expressly  informed,  that  to  the  endofthe 
period  of  the  i<Donders^  there  shall  be  three  times  and  a  half 
or  \26Odays  ;*  hence  it  necessarily  follows,  that, since  the 
period  of  ^300  days,  and  the  period  of  1260  days,  both  e- 
qually  reach  to  the  time  of  tlie  end,  or  to  the  end  of  the  peri- 
od of  the  zvonders,  they  both  exactly  terminate  together. 
Thus  it  appears,  that  the  period  of  1260  days  is  in  fact  the 
latter  part  of  the  greater  period  o{  2300  days.  This  opin- 
ion perfectly  harmonizes  with  what  we  are  repeatedly  told, 
both  by  Daniel  and  St.  John,  respecting  the  termination  of 
the  2300  and  the  1 260  days.  We  are  informed,  for  instance, 
that  the  sanctuary,  which  had  been  polluted  by  the  abom- 
ination of  desolation  connected  with  the  little  horn  of  the 
he-goat,  shall  be  cleansed  at  the  end  of  the  2300,  the 
2200,  or  the  2400  days,-\  whichever  of  these  three  be  the 
proper  reading  :J  that  the  saints  are  to  be  delivered  into 
the  hand  oi  the  little  horn  of  the  fourth  beast,  which  has 
been  shewn  to  be  the  Papacy,  until  a  time,  times,  and 
ike  dividing  of  time,  or  1260  days  ;  consequently  that 
they  are  to  be  freed  from  his  tyranny  at  the  end  of  that 
period  :§  that  the  Jews  shall  begin  to  be  restored  at  the 
end  of  the  same  time,  times,  and  a  half,  or  1260  days  :\ 
that  the  king,  ivho  is  to  magnify  himself  above  every  god, 
shall  come  to  his  end  contemporaneously  with  the  res- 
toration of  the  Jews  ;  and  consequently  at  the  end  oithe 
same  1260  daijs  .-^  that  the  court  of  the  temple,  and  the 
koly  city,  shall  be  trodden  underfoot  of  the  gentiles  dur- 
ing the  same  space  of  ^2  prophetic  months,  or  1260  days  ; 
and  consequently  that  they  shall  cease  to  be  trodden  un- 
der foot  at  the  end  of  that  period  :**  that  the  ten-horned 
beast  shall  practise  prosperously  in  h\?,i'evived state,  <\mv- 
ing  the  same  space  of  -%2  months,  or  1260  days ;  and  con- 

*  "  Until  how  long  shall  be  the  end  of  the  ivonders  ? — It  shall  be  until  a  time  and 
times  and  a  half;  and,  when  he  shall  have  finished  to  scatter  the  power  of  the  holy 
people,  all  these  things  shall  be  Jinished.  And  I  heard,  but  I  understood  not :  then 
said  I,  O  my  Lord,  what  is  the  end  of  these  things  ?  And  he  said.  Go  thy  way,  Dan- 
iel, for  the  words  are  closed  up  and  sealed  till  the  time  of  the  end^     Daniel  xii.  6-  -  9. 

f  I  shall  hereafter  shew,  that  the  sanctuary,  which  was  to  be  cleansed  at  the  end  of 
this  prophetic  period,  was  the  spiritual  sanctuary  of  the  Christian  Church,  not  the  literal 
sanctuary  of  the  yciuish  temple.  (See.  Rev.  xi.  1,  2.)  This  spiritual  sanctuary  wiU 
be  cleansed  by  the  overthrow  of  the  tivo  little  horns  of  the  third  &nd  fourth  beasts. 

4  Dan.viii.  14.  ■§  Dan.  vii.  25.  ||  Dan.  xii.  7. 

f  Dan.  xi.  45.  xii.  1.  •*  Rev.  xi.  2, 

VOL.   T.  21 


162 

sequently  shall  cease  to  practise  prosperously  at  the  end 
of  that  period  :*  that  the  witnesses  shall  prophesy  in 
sackcloth  during  the  same  1200  days  ;  aud  consequently 
shall  cease  to  prophesy  in  sackcloth  at  the  end  of  that 
period  :f  and  lastly,  that  the  symbolical  iiDoman,  or  the 
spiritual  churchy  shcxWhe  driven  into  the  wilderness  dur- 
ing the  same  space  of  1260  days,  or  three  prophetic  years 
and  a  half;  and  consequently  that  she  shall  be  delivered 
from  her  thraldom  at  the  end  of  that  period. :|: 

We  are  likewise  taught,  that  the  eW  of  these  two  con- 
terminating  periods  of  2300  and  1260  days  will  be  mark- 
ed by  a  wonderful  display  of  the  power  of  God.  At  the 
end  of  the  2300  days^  the  little  horn  of  the  he-goat  will 
be  broken  without  hand  :§  at  the  end  of  the  1260  days, 
the  judgment  will  sit,  and  the  dominion  o{  the  papal  horu 
or  the  little  horn  of  the  fourth  beast,  will  be  utterly  de- 
stroyed by  the  Son  of  man  :||  at  the  end  of  the  same  1260 
days,  the  king,  zvho  magnified  himself  above  every  god, 
will  undertake  the  expedition  which  will  terminate  in 
his  destruction  ;  and  at  that  very  time  the  restoration  of 
the  Jews  will  commence  :^  at  the  end  of  the  same  1260 
days,  the  ten-horned  beast,  which  was  to  practise  pros- 
perously in  his  revived  state  42  prophetic  months,  and 
along  with  him  his  false  prophet,  will  be  ultimately,  that 
is  at  the  end  of  those  42  months,  defeated  in  a  great  bat- 
tle with  the  personal  Word  of  God  :**  and  lastly,  the 
man  of  sin  wWXfnalli/,  and  therefore  at  the  end  of  the 
same  1260  days,  be  consumed  with  the  spirit  of  the 
mouth  of  the  Lord,  and  destroyed  with  the  brightness  of 
his  coming. -j"-!* 

From  an  attentive  consideration  of  all  these  different 

*  Rev.  xiii.  5.  f  Rev.  xi.  ?>, 

\  R.ev.  xii.  6,  14.  Throughout  the  whole  of  tliis  statement,  the  reader  will  of 
course  understand  me  to  mean,  not  that  the  sanctuary  will  be  perfectly  cleansed,  or 
that  the  beast  and  the  king  and  the  horns  will  be  perfectly  overthrown  ;  but  only  that 
those  great  events  will  then  begin  to  take  place,  that  God's  controversy  with  the 
Jiations  will  then  commence.  Matters  of  such  moment  may  begin,  but  cannot  be 
accomplished,  in  a  single  day.  Accordingly  we  have  reason  to  beheve  from  Daniel, 
that  the  whole  length  of  Cadi's  controversy  will  be  no  less  than  ?>0 years. 
§  Dan.  viii.  14,  25.  ||   Dan.  vii.  25,  26. 

f  Dan.  xi.  40.  xii.  I,  7.  **  Rev.  xlx.  19,  20. 

f  f  2  Thess.  ii.  8.     The  reader  will  here  again  understand  me  to  mean,  that  thesf 
cVents  will  begin  to  take  place  at  the  end  of  the  two  conterminating  period?^ 


163 

passages,  and  from  the  plain  declaration  of  the  angel  both 
in  the  vision  oi  the  ram  and  the  he-goaf^  and  in  the  last 
chapter  of  DaniePs prophecies,  it  must,  I  think,  undeni- 
ably follow,  that  the  2J00  days,  and  the  1260  days,  ter- 
minate together :  that,  in  the  course  of  the  memorable 
period  which  commences  at  the  termination  of  these 
days,  the  papal  horn,  the  little  horn  of  the  he-goat,  the 
ten-horned  beast  or  revived  Roman  empire,  the  king  who 
magnified  himself  above  every  god,  and  the  man  ^tf  sin, 
(whatever  powers  they  may  severally  prefigure)  will  all 
be  overthrown,  in  some  manner  or  another,  natural,  or 
supernatural,  by  the  victorious  Word  of  God  :  and  that 
in  the  course  of  the  same  nnemorable  period,  the  abomi- 
nation of  desolation  connected  with  the  he-goat's  little  horn, 
will  be  removed  ;  the  sanctuary  of  the  spiritual  temple  be 
cleansed  ;  and  the  Jews  be  restored  to  their  own  land. 

It  has  been  shewn,  that  the  period,  whence  the  1260 
days  ought  apparentlij  at  least  to  be  computed,  is  the 
year  606"  ;  because  in  that  year  the  saints  were  given  in- 
to the  hand  of  the  papal  little  horn.  Having  therefore 
ascertained  this  period,  as  far  as  matters  of  this  nature 
can  be  ascertained,  we  shall  now  be  able  both  to  point 
out  the  power  symbolized  by  the  little  horn  of  the  he-goaty 
and  to  determine  whether  2200,  2300,  or  2400  days,  be 
the  proper  reading  of  that  greater  number,  of  which  the 
1260  days  constitute  the  last  part. 

Since  the  angel  informs  Daniel,  that  all  the  i<Donders 
shall  be  finished  at  the  end  of  1260  days ;  and  afterwards 
computes  two  other  periods,  namely  1290  and  1335  days^ 
(the  one  period  reaching  30  days,  and  the  other  7o  days, 
beyond  the  1260  days,)  from  the  setting  up  o^  the  aboiU" 
ination  of  desolation  :  it  is  manifest,  that  this  abomination^ 
"which  1  have  shewn  to  be  the  abomination  connected  -with 
the  he-goai*s  little  horn,  was  set  up  at  the  beginning  of 
the  1260  days  :  for,  since  all  the  wonders  were  to  be 
finished  at  the  end  of  the  1260  days,  the  pollution  of  the 
sanctuary  by  the  abomination  connected  with  the  he-goafs 
little  horn  was  likewise  to  be  finished  at  that  period,  and 
therefore  its  cleansing  was  to  begin  at  that  same  period  ; 
and,  since  Daniel  dates  1290  and  1335  days  from  the 
abomination  of  desolation,  (the  first  of  these  numbers 


164 

reaching  30,  and  the  second  75  dmjs^  beyond  the  1260 
daijs,  when  all  the  ivonders  were  to  be  finished,  and  there- 
fore among  the  other  wonders  the  pollution  of  the  sanc- 
tuary,) it  is  plain,  that,  between  the  setting  up  of  the 
abomination  and  the  incipient  cleansing  of  the  sanctuary^ 
there  were  to  be  precisely  l^iJO  days ;  in  other  words, 
the  date  of  the  setting  up  of  the  abomination,  and  the  date 
oi  the  1200  days,  is  the  same. 

This  being  the  case,  it  seems  almost  necessarily  to  fol- 
low, that  the  tyranny  of  the  little  horn  of  the  Roman 
beast  will  continue  the  very  same  length  of  time  as  the 
tyranny  o^  the  desolating  transgression  connected  with  the 
little  horn  of  the  Macedonian  beast ;  for  we  are  specially 
informed,  that  the  sainis  should  be  delivered  into  the 
hand  cA  the  papni  little  horn  during  the  space  oi  three 
times  and  a  half  or  1^60  prophetic  days  :  and,  since  the 
tyranny  of  each  is  apparently  to  fnish  at  the  end  of  the 
same  1260  days,  the  tyranny  of  each  must  in  that  case 
begin  at  the  commencement  of  the  same  1260  days. 
Hence,  in  the  very  year  that  the  already  existing  papal 
little  horn  was  to  commence  its  tyrannical  career  of  1260 
days,  the  desolating  transgression  connected  with  the  little 
horn  of  the  he-goat,  which  was  shortly  to  give  both  the 
sanctuary  and  the  host  to  be  trodden  under  foot,  was 
first  to  be  set  up.  Bp.  Newton  accordingly  very  justly 
observes  from  these  premises  which  certainly  seem  to  be 
undeniable,  that,  whatever  power  he  meant  by  the  last 
Qjientioned  abomination  of  desolation,  that  power  will  pre- 
vail for  the  space  of  \260 years  ;  let  it  be  Mohammedism, 
or  let  it  be  any  other  power.* 

The  1260  days  then  of  thedesolati?ig  transgression  con- 
nected  with  the  he-goafs  little  horn  are  precisely  the  same 
period  as  the  1260  days  during  which  the  saints  were  to 
be  given  into  the  hand  oi  the  fourth  beasfs  little  horn  : 
consequently  they  are  the  same  period  also  as  the  42 
months,  during  which  the  ten  horned  beast  was  to  flour- 

*  The  abomination  of  i{esoljticn^^m2.J  Vlith  ec\\.\z\]\lsX\cc  he  applied  to  the  Moham- 
medans invaiiing  and  desolating  Christendom,  and  converting  the  churches  into  mosques  : 
and  this  latter  event  seemeth  to  have  been  particularly  intended  in  this  passage. 
.■(Dan.  xii.  II.)  If  this  interpretation  l>e  true,  the  religion  of  Mohammed  ii-il!  frevail  in  tht 
East  the  sface  "f  KCO  ^-(vro."    Dissert.  X\'IL 


165 

ish  in  his  revived  state.  Thus  it  appears,  that  the  heast 
was  to  revive  at  the  very  time  when  the  saints  were  given 
into  the  hand  of  his  little  horn.  Whence  we  must  al- 
most necessarily  conclude,  that  the  revival  o^  the  beast  \» 
so  closely  connected  with  the  giving  of  the  saints  into 
the  hand  of  the  little  horn,  that  in  some  sense  or  another 
he  revived  by  committing  the  sin  of  thus  giving  the  saints 
into  the  hand  of  his  little  horn.  Here  therefore  it  will 
be  proper  to  consider  the  meaning  of  this  revival. 

"  A  beast"  as  it  is  most  truly  remarked  by  Bp.  New- 
ton, and  as  I  have  very  fully  stated  in  a  preceding  chapter, 
*'  A  beast,  in  the  prophetic  style,  is  «  tyrannical  idola- 
trous empire  :  the  kingdom  oj"  God  and  of  Christ  is  never 
represented  under  the  image  of  a  beast."  This  being 
the  case,  an  empire  is  said  to  continue  in  existence  as  a 
heast,  so  long  as  it  is  a  tyrannically  idolatrous  empire  : 
when  it  puts  away  its  idolatry  and  tyranny,  and  turns  to 
the  God  of  heaven,  the  beast,  or  those  qualities  whereby 
the  empire  was  a  beast,  ceases  to  exist,  though  the  em- 
pire itself  may  still  remain  as  a  body  politic  of  faithful 
worshippers  :  and,  when  it  resumes  its  tyranny  and  idol- 
atry, though  they  may  not  perhaps  bear  precisely  the 
same  names  as  its  old  tyranny  and  idolatry,  it  then  revives, 
it  then  once  more  recommences  its  existence  in  its  original 
character  of  a  beast.  To  this  description  the  character 
of  the  ten  horned  or  Roman  beast  exactly  answers.  That 
empire  was  originally  a  beast  by  its  profession  of  pagan- 
ism :  it  ceased  to  be  a  beast  by  its  embracing  Christianity 
under  Constantine  :  and  it  once  more  became  a  beast  by 
its  setting  up  a  catholic  spiritual  tyratit,  and  by  its  persecu- 
ting at  his  instigation  all,  zvho  refused  to  own  his  supre- 
macy, and  to  embrace  his  new  idolatry.  On  these  grounds, 
St.  John  informs  us,  that  the  ten-horned  or  Roman  beast 
"  was,  and  is  not,  and  yet  is."  It  was,  while  in  its  orig- 
inal pagan  state  :  it  is  not,  while  in  its  Christian  state 
under  Constantine  :  it  is,  while  supporting  papal  tyranny 
and  idolatry.  In  this  last  of  its  three  states,  St.  John 
beheld  it  rise  from  the  sea  of  Gothic  invasion  :  and  in 
this  last  state  it  is  to  practise  prosperously,  as  he  carefully 
informs  us,  42  months,  or  1260  daijs.  The  same  dura- 
tion is  assigned  to  the  tyrannical  reign  of  its  own  little 


166 

horn^  or  the  Papacij  ;  and  for  this  plain  reason  ;  the  em- 
pire revived,  or  once  more  became  a  beast,  by  giving  up 
the  saints  into  the  hand  o{  its  little  horn  :  and  this  it  as- 
suredly did,  not  by  encreasing  the  territorial  possessions 
of  the  horn  (for  partial  temporal  dominion  does  not  confer 
the  power  of  general  persecution,)  but  by  conferring  up- 
on him  spiritual  supremacy.  Precisely  at  the  time  then 
when  the  papal  horn  was  declared  to  be  universal  bishop 
and  supreme  head  oj'  the  Church,  the  saints  were  given 
up  into  his  hand.  He  then  first  acquired  the  power  of 
general  persecution.  Though  he  might  not  immediately 
begin  to  exercise  that  power  by  wearing  out  Me  saints  oj^ 
the  Most  High,  it  was  then  undoubtedly  first  conferred 
upon  him. 

The  true  key  then  to  fixing  the  date  oi  the  \^60 years- 
is  that  furnished  us  by  the  prophet  himself.  We  have 
neither  to  concern  ourselves  with  the  rise  of  the  papal 
horn  abstractedly,  nor  yet  with  its  attaining  to  the  summit 
of  its  temporal  pozi'cr :  we  have  simply  to  inquire  when 
the  saints  were  first  given  up  into  his  hand,  and  when  the 
old  pagan  beast  revived  by  setting  up  a  catholic  spiritual 
idolatrous  tyrant  in  the  Church. 

In  the  West,  the  year  604  beheld  the  death  of  Grego- 
ry the  Great,  Bishop  of  Rome.  The  pontificate  of  this 
good  man,  for  I  cannot  but  consider  him  as  a  good  man 
tinctured  as  his  piety  was  with  the  growing  superstition 
of  the  age,*  was  remarkable  for  his  protestation  against 
universal  episcopacy  by  whomsoever  assumed,  and  for 
his  censure  of  the  idolatrous  veneration  of  images  then 
creeping  fast  into  the  Church.  Great  as  the  power  of 
the  Roman  archiepiscopa!  see  then  was,  the  sentiments 
of  Gregory  on  the  important  question  of  catholic  supre- 
macy are  worthy  of  our  particular  attention,  inasmuch  as 

*  See  the  testimony  born  to  his  virtues  even  by  Mr.  Gibbon,  though  he  feebly 
attempts  to  ridicule  his  piety  on  account  of  the  superstition  with  which  it  was 
undoubtedly  alloyed.  (Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  viii.  p.  168,  169.)  It  may 
not  be  improper  here  to  observe,  that  much  real  piety  may  subsist,  both  along  with 
the  luHl-ivorship  of  supcntitioii,  provided  it  grow  not  to  such  a  height  as  utterly  to 
«.'hoke  the  good  seed  of  the  word  ;  and  along  with  the  eccentric  reveries  of  enthusiasm, 
provided  they  do  not  exchange  their  harmlessly  ridiculous  cast  of  countenance  for 
fhe  Satyr's  mask  of  avowed  licentiousness  and  open  profaneness.  But  the  co-ex- 
istence of  religion  and  infidelity  is  impossible  :  a  religious  irfdd  is  a  contradiction  m 
•lertns. 


167 

they  differ  so  very  essentially  from  those  of  his  successors. 
"  1  speak  it  confidently,"  says  he,  "  that,  whosoever  call- 
eth  himself  universal  bishop^  or  desireth  to  be  so  called, 
in  the  pride  of  his  heart  he  doth  forerun  Antichrist. ^^* 
Accordingly,  when  the  Bishop  of  Constantinople  accept- 
ed this  presumptuous  title,  which  in  his  case  was  a  mere 
title  never  acted  upon,  the  observation  made  by  Gregory 
respecting  it  was,  "  By  this  pride  of  his  what  thing  else 
is  signified,  but  that  the  time  of  Antichrist  is  now  at 
hand  !"f  Respecting  the  introduction  of  images  inio 
churches,  which  proved  at  length  the  fruitful  source  of 
popish  demonolatr}',  Gregory's  conduct  shews  indeed, 
that  his  judgment  in  that  particular  was  erroneous  ;  but 
effectually  demonstrates  nevertheless,  that  he  expressly 
reprobated  the  idolatrous  veneration  of  saints  and  angels. 
Serenus  of  Marseilles,  finding  that  some  of  the  people 
had  begun  to  adore  the  images  which  were  originally 
placed  in  the  churches  merely  as  memorials,  very  wisely 
broke  them  in  pieces  :  but  this  laudable  action  of  his 
gave  so  much  offence  to  the  superstitious  part  of  his  con- 
gregation, that  many  of  them  withdrew  from  his  com- 
munion. Gregory,  hearing  of  the  unhappy  dissension, 
wrote  to  Serenus,  advising  him  to  conciliate  the  affections 
of  his  people  by  permitting  them  to  retain  their  images, 
which  might  (he  observed)  be  considered  as  a  sort  of  in- 
structive books  for  the  illiterate  ;  but,  at  the  same  time, 
along  with  this  permission  to  caution  them  most  serious- 
ly against  paying  the  least  adoration  to  them.  Events 
have  shewn,  that  the  Bishop  of  Marseilles  judged  more 
wisely  than  Gregory  :    but  it  is  evident,  that  image-ivor- 

*  Ergo  fidenter  dico,  quod  quisquis  se  unlvsrsahm  :a:srdot;m  vocat,  vel  vocari 
desiderat,  in  elatione  sua  Antichristum  prce  currit.  Lib.  vi.  Epist.  30.  cited  by  Bp, 
Newton.)  The  accuracy  of  this  declaratioo  of  Gregory  is  not  unworthy  of  our 
notice.  He  does  not  say,  that  the  person,  who  assumes  the  title  of  Uni'-jersal  Bishop, 
is  Antichrist  himself ,  but  only  that  he  is  the  precursor  of  Antichrist.  Gregory  then 
conjectured,  and  he  conjectured  rightly,  that  the  assumption  of  universal  episcopacy 
was  the  leading  badge  of  the  commencement  of  the  little  horns  tyranny  :  but,  not  attend- 
ing to  the  prediction  that  this  tyranny  should  continue  1260  years,  he  fancied  that 
the  reign  of  Antichrist  was  close  at  hani  Hence  he  both  wrote,  preached,  and  (we 
may  add)  lived,  under  the  firm  persuasion  that  the  end  of  the  world  was  fast  ap- 
proaching. 

f  Ex  hac  ejus  superbia  quid  aliud,  nisi  propinqua  jam  esse  Antichristi  tempora, 
desifnatur  ?  Lib.  iv.  Epist.  34.  cited  by  Bp,  Neyrton. 


168 

ship  had  not  in  bis  time  been  formally  established  by  the 
authority  of  the  Roman  pontiff. 

Gregory  was  succeeded  by  Sabinianus,  whose  short 
pontificate  was  remarkable  only  for  rapine  and  extortion, 
for  a  systematic  grinding  of  the  faces  of  the  poor,  and  for 
mean  abuse  of  the  memory  of  his  liberal  predecessor. 
But,  though  the  individual  Sabinianus  was  a  wicked  man, 
the  saints  were  not  as  yet  formally  delivered  into  the 
hand  of  t/ie  iilfie  korn^  nor  was  idolatry  as  yet  openly 
established  in  the  Church  :  consequently  i/ie  I960  days 
had  not  then  commenced,  nor  had  the  Roman  beast  reviv- 
ed by  publicly  relapsing  into  the  abominations  of  pa- 
ganism. 

Upon  the  death  of  Sabinianus,  Boniface  the  third  as- 
cended the  papal  throne,  in  the  beginning  of  the  year 
606  :  and  one  of  his  first  acts,  an  act  which  took  place 
in  this  very  year  606,  was  to  procure  from  the  tyrannical 
usurper  Phocas  a  grant  of  the  title  of  Universal  Bishop 
and  Supreme  Head  of  the  Church  ;  the  identical  title, 
which  Gregory  only  a  few  years  before,  and  that  in  the 
lifetime  of  Boniface  himself,  had  stigmatized  as  a  badge 
of  the  precursor  of  Antichrist  * 

*  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert. — Milner's  Eccles.  Hist. — Bowyer's  Lives  of  the  Popes. — 
The  account,  which  Cardinal  Baronius  gives  of  this  grant,  is  interesting,  because  it 
tallies  so  exactly  with  the  prophecy.  In  the  spirit  of  a  true  Papist  he  maintains, 
that  dejure  the  Pope  was  always  the  uni-uersal  bishop,  ■A.nA  that  Phocas  did  not  so  much 
confer  upon  him  what  he  did  not  possess  already,  as  sanction  by  his  imperial  authority 
the  undoubted  right  of  the  Pope,  thus  constituting  him  universal  bishop  de facto  as  well 
as  de  jure.  Now  what  is  this,  but,  in  the  language  of  the  prophet,  g'-ymg  the  saints 
into  his  hand ;  that  is  to  say,  decreeing  him  by  imperial  authority  to  be  a  spiritual 
sovereign  over  all  Christians,  or  (as  they  are  constantly  termed  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment) saints  ?  "  Anno  Chrlsti  606  to,  indictione  nona,  decimo  quinto  calendas  Mar- 
tias,  ex  diacono  Pontifex  Romanus  creatus  est  Bonifacius  ejus  nominis  tertius. — Quo 
tempore  intercesscrunt  quajdam  odiorum  fomenta  inter  eumdem  Phocam  imperato- 
rem  atque  Cyriacum  patriarcham  Constantinopolitanum. — Hinc  igitur  in  Gyriacum 
Phocas  exacerbatus  in  ejus  odium  impcriali  cdicto  sancivit,  nomen  Universalis  decere 
Romanam  tantummodo  ecclesiam,  tanquam  quse  caput  esset  omnium  ecclesiarum  ; 
solique  convenire  Romano  Pontilici,  non  autem  episcopo  Constantinopolitano  qua 
sibi  illud  usurpare  prssumeret.  Quod  quidem  hunc  Bonifacium  Papam  tertium  ab 
jmpcratore  Phoca  obtinuisse,  cum  Anastasius  bibliothecarius,  tum  Paulus  Diaconus 
(De  gest.  Longobard.  L.  4.)  tradunt — Sed,  quod  ad  Phoc-E  edictum  attinet,  baud 
eo  quidem  ipse  (quod  garriunt  novatores)  hoc  tribuit  privilegium  ecclesix  Romanx, 
ut  in  catholica  primatum  ageret  ;  hunc  enim  jam  ipsam  habuisse,  semperque  exer- 
cuisse,  ab  ipso  sui  principio,  non  solum  super  omnes  alios  patriarchas  orientales,  sed 
et  multo  magls  super  omnium  novissimum  Constantinopolitanum,  quam  plurimis  est 
superius  locis  latissime  demonstratum  :  nee  in  eo  fuit  aliquando  cum  episcopis  Con- 
stantinopolit*nis  controversia,  quippe  qui  numquam  eumdem  primatum  in  dubium 
revocaru.nt ;  sed  in  eo  tantimi,  quod  ipsi  uuxjer  tituhun  sIbi  iEit;n:ais>:i  usurpasscnt 


169 

From  ihs  year  then  it  seems  most  natural  to  date  the 
1260  days :  for,  when  the  Roman  Bishop  was  appointed 
Supreme  Head  of  the  Churchy  and  when  all  the  churches 

(quod  Romanis  Pontiflcibus  cum  ab  aliis,  turn  ab  ipsis  CEcuminicis  synodis,jure  tri- 
butum  vidimus),  et  reciamantibus  licet  iisdem  Romanis  Pontiflcibus,  conservassent 
hactenus  favore  Mauritii  imperatoris.  Hanc  igitur  causam  sententia  sua  Phocas  de- 
cidens,  earn  adjudicavit  Romano  Pontifici,  ut  ipse  solus,  non  etiam  Ccnstantinopoli-* 
tanus,  diceretur  (Ecumenicus."      Baron.  Annal.  Eccles.  A.  D.  606. 

Some,  I  believe,  have  doubted  whether  such  a  grant  vi^as  ever  made  by  Phocas  ; 
but,  as  it  appears  to  me,  without  much  reason.  We  know  how  severely  the  title  of 
Uni-versal  Bishop  was  reprobated  by  Pope  Gregory  at  the  end  of  the  sixth,  and  at  the 
beginning  of  the  seventh,  century  :  we  know  likewise,  that  the  title  was  borne  not 
long  afterwards  by  the  Roman  PontifF,  and  that  it  was  formally  confirmed  to  him  by 
the  second  council  of  Nice  in  the  year  787.  Hence  we  are  certain,  that  it  cannot 
have  been  assumed  very  late  in  the  seventh  century.  Now  Baronius  tells  us,  that 
it  was  assumed  in  the  year  606,  giving  for  his  authorities  Anastasius  and  Paulus  Di- 
aconus  ;  the  former  of  whom  flourished  in  the  ninth,  and  the  latter  in  the  eighth, 
century  :  and  I  can  see  no  reason  why  we  should  refuse  to  credit  an  assertion,  which 
places  the  assumption  of  the  title  about  the  very  time  when  we  must  una-voidably  sup- 
pose it  to  have  been  assumed.  In  short,  if  the  account  be  nothing  more  than  a  for- 
gery, it  is  both  one  of  the  most  unnecessary  and  one  of  the  most  ill-contrived  for- 
geries that  ever  was  executed  :  unnecessary,  because  the  Pope  had  been  solemnly 
declared  Universal  Bishop  by  the  second  council  of  Nice  in  the  year  787  ;  il!-con-» 
trived,  because  the  wily  defenders  of  the  Papacy  must  have  departed  very  far  from 
their  wonted  subtlety  to  deduce  falsely  the  grant  in  question  from  such  an  infamous 
monster  as  Phocas.  Had  it  never  been  made  by  any  emperor,  and  had  they  been 
disposed  \.o  forge  it  for  the  purpose  of  aggrandizing  the  Papacy,  they  would  surely 
have  pitched  upon  a  more  reputable  patron  than  Phocas ;  and  would  have  ascribed 
it  (as  they  did  to  Constantine,  the  original  grant  of  St.  Peter's  patrimony)  not  to  a 
raurderous  usurper,  but  to  some  emperor,  whose  character  stood  high  in  the  chris- 
tian world.  On  these  grounds,  I  give  credit  to  the  assertions  of  Paulus  Diaconus 
and  Anastasius,  neither  of  whom  lived  very  long  after  the  time  when  the  grant  is 
said  to  have  been  made  :  and  probably  on  the  same  grounds,  "  the  most  learned 
writers,  and  those  who  are  most  remarkable  for  their  know^ledge  of  antiquity,"  as 
it  is  observed  by  Mosheim,  "  are  generally  agreed,"  that  the  title  of  Universal  Bishop 
was  formally  conferred  by  Phocas  upon  Boniface.     Eccles.  Hist.  Vol.  II.  p.  169. 

The  general  agreement  of  various  writers  on  this  point,  and  the  grounds  whiclx 
the  Romanists  take,  are  well  stated  by  Dr.  Brett  from  Bp.  Carlton's  book  of  juris- 
diction, regal,  episcopal,  and  papal,  cap.  vi.  p.  82,  83.  "  Phocas,"  says  he,  "  fixed 
Boniface,  the  third  Pope  of  that  name,  in  that  universal  pastorship,  which  the  Ro- 
man see  claims  and  exercises  over  the  other  sees  of  Christendom  at  this  day  :  and 
this,  as  Baronius  and  Estius,  so  these  following  historians  assert. — I  will  begin  with 
Paulus  Diaconus,  who  saith,  Phocas  statuit  sedem  ecclesi^  Romance  ut  caput  et  omnium  ec-^ 
elesiarum.  Abbas  Usburgensis  says  the  same  :  to  wit,  that  Phocas  ordained,  that  the 
see  of  the  Roman  apostolical  church  should  be  the  head  of  all  churches.  Platina  says,  that 
Boniface  III.  agrees  with  them  herein,  though  he  declares  it  in  different  words  ; 
Bonifacius  obtinuit  a  Phcca,  ut  scdes  beaii  apostoli,  qua  est  caput  omnium  ecclesiarum,  ita  di- 
eeretur  et  haberetur  ab  omnibus.  Blondus  saith,  Phocas  antistitem  Romanum  principem  epis- 
coporum  omnium  constituit.  And  Nauclerus  saith,  Phocas  ad  tini-versum  orbem,  dimissa 
sanctione,  constituit,  ut  Romanie  ecclesia,  Romanoque  Pontifici,  cmnes  urbes  ecclesite  obedirent. 
And  now  our  Romanists  believe,  as  others  have  declared  before  them,  that  the  Ro- 
man chair  had  this  primacy  by  divine  right,  antecedent  to  Phocas's  decree,  by  which 
he  only  engaged  to  make  it  law  in  the  empire."  (Independent  power  of  the  Church 
not  Romish,  p.  268,  269,  270.)  This  opinion,  which  (as  I  have  already  observed) 
exactly  accords  with  the  prediction,  that  the  Roman  beast  should  deliver  the  saints  or 
Christians  into  the  hand  of  his  little  horn,  is  thus  stated  by  Estius  the  schoolman. 
Nee  aliud  a  Phoca  imfeiatore  impetra-uit  Bonifacius  tertius,   quam  ut  cathedra  Romana pr\- 

YOL.    I.  22 


170 

were  declared  to  be  subject  to  him  in  spirituals,  tlie  saints 
were  undoubtedly  delivered  into  his  hand.  Hitherto 
they  had  not  been  necessarily  or  universally  subject  to 
him  ;  henceforth  his  merciless  tyranny  armed  the  secular 
power  against  them,  and  pursued  them  with  implacable 
animosity  to  the  very  ends  of  the  earth.  I  mean  not  in- 
deed to  say,  that  he  immediately  began  to  exercise  this 
unchristian  authority  ;  but  now  ii  certainly  was,  that  the 
sahits  were  delivered  into  his  hand,  and  placed  under  his 
control. 

In  order,  as  it  were,  more  decidedly  to  shew  that  at 
this  eventful  era  the  126u  daijs  commenced,  and  the  Ro- 
man beast  revived,  scarcely  had  a  year  elapsed  from  the 
establishment  of  this  sacerdotal  empire,  when  the  very 
idolatry,  which  had  so  lately  been  opposed  by  the  zeal 
of  Serenus  and  censured  by  the  piety  of  Gregory,  was 
publicly  authorized  by  the  sovereign  pontiff.  The  an- 
cient Pantheon,  formerly  the  general  sink  of  all  the  abom- 
inations of  paganism,  was  now  restored,  though  under  a 
different  name,  to  its  original  destination.*  The  medi- 
atory demons  of  corrupted  Christianity  occupied  the  va- 
cant places  of  the  mediatory  demons  of  the  gentiles ; 
and,  instead  of  Jupiter  and  his  kindred  deities,  the  virgin- 
mother  of  Christ  and  all  his  martyred  saints  receive  the 
blind  adoration  of  the  revived  ien-horned  beast. ■\     The 

KlatutK,  qui  el  jure  drolrto  co;npctcbaty  Imperldll  potentate  tiieretur  contra  prtssumpilonem  Eph-^ 
cnpi  Constant inopolitani,  qui  je  palani  in  suis  Uteris  Universalem  Episcopum  scribebat. 
(Comment,  in  senten.  L.  iv.  §  9.  Tom.  iv.  Pars  Post,  cited  by  Brett,  p.  264.)  Pro- 
testants have  frequently  urged  to  Papists  the  disgraceful  manner  in  whicli  this  grant 
was  made  :  but  they  never,  on  that  account,  ventured  to  exchange  their  patron- 
Phocas  for  one  that  would  have  done  them  more  credit.  Thus,  when  Illyricus 
maintained  against  Bellarmine.that  Antichrist  was  born,  when  Phocas,  in  the  year  606, 
granted  to  the  Roman  PontifF,  that  he  should  be  called  t'je  head  of  the  ivhole  church  ; 
the  Cardinal  readily  allowed  the  truth  of  the  premises,  but  denied  the  validity  of  the 
conclusion.     See  Brightman.  cont.  Bellarm.  de  Antichris.  Cap.  3.  Fol.  297. 

*  "  Annus  Christi  607  cceptus  est  ab  indictione  10  ma.  Quo  Bonifacius — ex  pres- 
bytero  ordinatus  est,  ejus  nominis  quartus,  Pnntifex  Romanus  die  1 8  va  Sept. — A 
Phoca  Augusto  impetravit  Pantheon, — Jovi  vindici  consecratum,  quod  adhuc  intac- 
f  um  remanserat  a  demolientibus  damonum  sedes  Romanis  Christianis  :  illudque  ex- 
purgatum  ab  antiqu.ns  sordibus  idololatrise,  in  honorem  Dei-genetricis  Maris  et  om- 
nium sanctorum  martyrum  consecravit.  Narrat  hac  Anastasius  ;  quorum  etiam 
meminit  Beda."     Baron.     Annal.     Eccles.  a.  d.  607. 

f  Dr.  Macleane,  in  the  chronological  table  affixed  to  Mosheim's  Ecclesiastical 
History,  describes  this  event  in  the  following  words :  "  Here  (in  the  Pantheon) 
Cybele  was  succeeded  by  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  the  Pagan  deities  by  Christian 
martyrs.    Idolatry  still  subsisted  :    but  the  objects  of  it  were  changed. 


171 

fix)hj  city  was  now  trodden  under  foot  by  a  new  race  of 
gentiles,  differing  from  their  pagan  predecessors  in  name 
rather  than  in  nature  ;  and  the  zvitnesses  began  to  proph- 
esy in  sackcloth  during  the  long  period  of  1260  tjeurs, 
the  same  period  in  short  as  that  during  which  the  saints 
were  given  into  the  hand  of  the  little  horn* 

Not  but  that  the  Apostacij,  as  1  have  already  observed, 
had  long  since  individually  commenced.  The  forbidding 
to  marry ^  the  abstaining  from  meats^  the  excessive  vcne- 
ration  of  supposed  mediatory  saints  and  angels^  began  to 
creep  into  the  Church  even  in  the  fourth  century  :  but 
no  date  can  be  affixed  to  individual  criminality. -j-  In  the 
strictly  chronological  prophecies  of  Daniel  and  St.  John, 
periods  of  years  are  always  computed  from  some  specific 
and  definite  action  either  of  a  community  or  of  the  head 
of  a  community  ;  not  from  the  unauthorized  deeds  of 
individuals,  the  commission  of  the  first  of  which  deeds 
can  only  be  known  with  absolute  certainty  by  God  him- 
self. Hence  we  find,  that  in  the  unchronological  proph- 
ecy of  St.  Paulij:  some  of  the  leading  features  of  the  Apos- 
iacy  are  marked  out  in  general  terras,  the  prophecy  itself 
affecting  every  individual  to  whom  the  description  ap- 
plies :  while,  in  the  chronological  prophecies  of  Daniel 
and  St.  John  relative  to  the  same  Apostacy^  since  the  di- 
vine wisdom  thought  proper  to  specify  a  certain  term  of 
years  for  the  tyrannical  reign  of  the  man  of  sin,  it  was 
necessary  to  date  those  years  not  from  general  acts  of 
individual  criminality,  but  from  some  overt  and  conspi- 
cuous act  of  the  head  of  a  comtnunity,  of  the  man  of  sin 
himself  This  act  is  determined  to  be  the  delivering  of 
the  saints  of  God  into  the  hand  of  the  little  horn,  the 
commencement  of  the  treading  of  the  holif  city  or  the 
Church  underfoot  by  the  new  gentile  members  of  the  re- 
vived beast  ^  and  the  beginning  of  the  faithful  witnesses  to 
prophesy  in  sackcloth.  Now  it  will  be  difficult  to  pitch 
upon  any  era  for  the  date  of  this  sufficiently  conspicuous 
act  except  the  year  606  .•  for  in  this  and  in  the  following 

*  Rev.  xi.  2,  3. 

f  During  this  period,  the  Roman  beast  may  be  considered  as  gradually  rising  out  of 
thi  sea,  and  as  coming  to  life  again. 

^  1   Tim,  iv,  1,2,  3,  7,  8, 


172 

year,  the  saints  were  formally  given  into  the  hand  of //?<» 
little  horn  ;  and  the  Apostacy  of  individuals  became  the 
embodied  and  established  Apostacy  of  a  spiritual  catholic 
empire  over  which  the  man  of  sin  presided. 

When  «  spiritual  universal  tyrant  then  was  set  up  in 
the  Churchy  and  when  idolatry  was  (immediately  upon 
his  being  thus  set  up)  openly  authorized  and  established 
by  him  ;  the  afflicted  woman  the  true  Church  seems  to 
have  fled  into  the  loilderness  from  the  pollution  of  the 
holy  city  by  the  new  gentilism  of  Popery,  and  the  zcit- 
nesses  appear  to  have  begun  to  prophesy  in  sackcloth. 
Not  that  an  incessant  persecution  was  to  be  carried  on 
against  them  throughout  the  whole  term  of  the  1260 
years ;  but  that  the}^  should  continue  so  long  to  prophe- 
sy in  sackcloth,  or,  in  other  words,  to  profess  the  funda- 
mental truths  of  the  Gospel  in  a  depressed  and  afflicted 
state.  Accordingly,  as  Bp.  Newton  well  observes,  and 
afterwards  satisfactorily  proves,  "  there  have  constantly 
been  such  zvitnesses  from  the  seventh  century"  (the  cen- 
tury in  which  the  Apostacy^  considered  as  the  open  act  of 
a  community  under  its  proper  head^  commenced)  "  down 
to  the  Reformation,  during  the  most  flourishing  period 
of  Popery." 

Thus  it  appears,  that  the  tyrannical  reign  oi  the  fourth 
beast's  little  horn,  and  consequently  the  prophetic  period 
of  1260  days,  are  most  probably  to  be  dated  from  the 
year  606,  and  will  therefore,  upon  such  a  supposition, 
terminate  in  the  year  1866.  Let  us  next  turn  towards 
the  East,  and  see  whether  vre  cannot  discover,  in  this 
same  year  606,  any  marks  of  the  rise  of  that  transgres- 
sion of  desolation,  which  is  so  closely  connected  with  the 
little  horn  of  the  he-goat,  and  which  is  to  continue  dur- 
ing the  same  period  of  1260  days. 

In  the  East,  the  year  606  beheld  the  crafty  impostor 
Mohammed  retire  to  the  cave  of  Hera  to  consult  the 
spirit  of  fraud  and  enthusiasm,  and  to  fabricate  that  false 
religion,  which  soon  after  darkened  the  whole  oriental 
world.*     Having  fully  digested  his  plan  in  the  solitude 

*  The  coincidence  of  the  rise  of  Mohammedism,  and  the  commencement  of  Popery 
properly  so  called,  is  thus  stated  by  Mr.  Whitaker.  "  Daniel  states  the  rise  of  Moham- 
med as  te  t^ke  place  when  the  trangreasojs  are  come  to  the  full.    St.  Paul  says,  that 


173 

of  the  desert,  he  began  at  first  only  privately  to  preacH 
his  heterogeneous  system  of  theology  about  the  year  60S' 
or  609.  Mecca  was  the  theatre  of  his  first  labours  ;  and 
his  earliest  converts  were  his  wife,  his  servant,  his  pupil, 
and  his  friend.  At  length,  by  the  persuasion  of  Abube- 
ker.  ten  of  the  most  respectable  citizens  of  Mecca  vi'ere 
introduced  to  the  private  lessons  of  the  Islam  ;  the  proph- 
et persevered  ten  years  in  the  now  more  public  exercise 
of  his  mission  ;  and  the  religion,  which  has  since  over- 
spread so  large  a  portion  of  the  globe,  advanced  with  a 
slow  and  painful  progress  within  the  walls  of  his  native 
town.* 

Here  then  we  behold  the  desolating  abomination  con- 
nected with  the  he-goafs  little  hum  springing  up  at  the 
very  time  when  we  were  taught  by  prophecy  to  ex- 
pect that  it  would  spring  up,  namely  at  the  heginning  of 
the  \^60  days.  Small  as  it  was  at  first,  it  soon  waxed 
exceeding  great ;  and,  in  a  very  short  space  of  time  suc- 
ceeded in  completely  polluting  the  spiritual  sanctuary  of 
the  eastern  church.  The  exact  resemblance  between 
this  desolating  transgression  and  the  religion  of  Moham- 
med^ in  all  other  respects  as  well  as  in  their  chronolog- 
ical correspondence  with  each  other,  shall  presently  be 
shewn  :  1  shall  first  however  try  to  ascertain  the  period, 
from  which  the  2200,  2300,  or  2400,  days^  mentioned  in 
the  prophecy  of  the  ram  and  the  he-goat  are  to  be  dated  ; 
and,  li  that  can  be  in  a  measure  ascertained,  the  proper 
reading  of  the  number  will  be  ascertained  likewise. 

Although  it  certainly  is  a  matter  of  doubt  from  what 
precise'era  this  period  ought  to  be  dated,  and  although 
(as  Bp.  Newton  justly  observes)   the  event  alone  can 

the  delusion  of  the  man  of  sin  shall  be  sent  as  a  punishment,  because  men  believed  not 
the  truth,  but  had  pleasure  in  unrighteousness  ;  where  surely  the  same  period  {that  in 
which  the  sins  of  the  people  call  for  judgment)  is  characterized  for  the  rise  of  these 
iivo  poiuers.  Now  St.  John  ascribes  to  each  of  them  the  same  duration,  and  speaks  of 
the  time  of  their  end  as  the  same,  and  consequently  in  his  account  they  must  begin 
at  the  same  time  ;  in  exact  correspondence  with  each  of  the  separate  declarations  of 
the  two  former  writers.  Such  coincidences  in  prophecy,  of  which  the  holy  pen- 
men themselves  do  not  seem  aware,  prove,  like  the  same  in  history,  that  the  writers 
drew  originally  from  one  source,  with  this  only  difference,  that  in  the  former  case 
their  information  must  have  more  than  a  human  origin,  even  the  operation  of  that 
self-same  spirit,  who  divideth  to  every  man  severally  as  he  will."  General  View  of 
Proph.  p.  95,  96,  97. 

*  Prideaux's  Life  of  Mohammed  p.  16—49— Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall  Vol.  9. 
p.  28p— 285. 


174 

positivehj  determine  the  point,  it  seems  to  me  most  nat- 
ural to  compute  it  from  sometime  or  anotlier  during  the 
&ettled  existence  of  the  Persian  empire.  The  prophet 
represents  the  two-horned  Medo-Persian  ram^  not  as  ris- 
ing J^rom  the  sea,  but  as  standing  by  his  river  :  in  other 
words,  he  does  not  speak  of  the  origin  oi  the  united  mon- 
archy, which  is  a  fixed  determinate  period  ;  but  of  some 
period,  which  he  does  not  specify,  in  the  course  of  its 
regular  and  settled  government  j^  Now  the  Medo-Per- 
sian ram  rose  out  of  the  political  sea  of  nations  in  the 
year  A.  C.  536",  when  the  two  kingdoms  of  Media  and 
Persia,  the  tzco  horns  of  the  ram,  were  united  under  the 
single  government  of  Cyrus  ;  whence  that  year  is  termed 
the  first  year  of  Cyrus  :■!•  but  he  continued  standing  up- 
on the  bank  of  his  symbolical  river,  till  the  he-goat 
"  smote  him,  and  brake  his  two  horns,  and  cast  him 
down  to  the  ground,  and  stamped  upon  him."  This 
happened,  in  the  year  A.  C.  330,  when  the  unfortunate 
Darius,  after  the  last  decisive  battle  of  Gaugamela,  was 
basely  murdered  by  Bessus,  and  the  Persian  empire 
thus  completely  extinguished.  The  ram  therefore  con- 
tinued standing  from  the  year  A.  C.  5S6  to  the  year  A. 
C.  330  :  but  he  continued  standing  undisturbed  only  till 
the  year  A.  C.  33\,  when  the  Macedonian  he-goat  began 
to  smite  him  by  invading  his  territories,  and  by  gaining 
his  first  victory  over  him  at  the  River  Granicus.:}:  If 
then  we  ought  to  seek  the  date  of  the  vision  during  the 
standing  of  the  ram,  or  the  settled  existence  of  the  Per- 
sian empire,  it  will   be  found  somewhere  between  the 

*  The  rmn,  or,  as  lie  is  termed  in  the  former  11/sion,  the  hear,  is  said,  in  the  prophetic 
language,  to  arise  out  of  the  sea ;  to  denote  the  rise  of  the  Persian  empire  amidst 
wars  and  tumults  :  but,  when  Daniel  beheld  him  in  his  present  •vision,  he  was  standing 
by  the  river  ;  to  denote,  that  the  Persian  empire  had  already  arisen,  and  was  then 
standing  in  a  tranquil,  regular,  and  firmly  established,  state.  (See  the  preceding  re- 
marks upon  the  tivo  symbols  oi  the  jfa,  and  a  rmer,  in  the  ^d  chapter  of  the  present  tvori.)  To 
file  out  of  the  sea,  and  to  stand  upon  the  banh  of  a  ri'ver,  certainly  denote,  according  to 
the  analogy  and  precision  of  sjanbolical  language,  ttvo  -very  different  states  of  an  em- 
pire, the  one  posterior  to  the  other.  The  river  Ulai,  near  the  palace  Shushan,  is  here 
used  as  a  symbol  of  the  Persian  monarchy,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  apocalyptic  Eu- 
phrates represents  the  Turkish  empire.     Rev.  ix.  1 4.  and  xvi.  1 2. 

f  Anno  A.  C.  536,  Cyrus,  Cambyse  patre  in  Persia  et  Cyaxare  socero  in  Media 
vita  functis,  Orientis  monarchia  potitus  est :  a  qua  et  aqxP'^  illius  annos  septem,  m 
8^.  Tca.iSim;  ipsius  dinumerat  Xenophon  ;  et  primum  illius  annum,  ex  ipsis  Medoruic 
et  Persarum  archivis,  sacra  deducit  Scriptura.     Usser.  Annal.  p.  H6. 

\  Usser    Annal.  p.  285,  286,  312,  321,  323,  32*. 


17^^ 

fiear  A.  C.  536^  when  the  ram  began  to  stand,  and  the 
year  A.  C.  330,  when  he  zvas  completely  overthrown  * 

Now,  if  I  be  right  in  dating  the  1260  days  from  the 
year  606,  the  year  in  which  the  Mohammedan  abomina- 
tion of  desolation  commenced,  the  year  in  which  the  Ro- 
man  beast  revived,  the  year  in  which  the  saints  vv^ere  giv- 
en into  the  hand  of  the  papal  little  horn  ;  the  1260  days 
will  expire  in  the  year  1866.  These  1260  days,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  synchronize  with  the  last  1260  days 
of  Me  2200,  2300,  or  2400,  days,  whichever  of  these 
numbers  be  the  proper  reading  ;  because,  as  we  are  ex- 
pressly informed  by  the  two  interpreting  angels,  the  2200, 
3300,  or  2-iOO,  days,  and  the  1260  days,  both  equally 
bring  us  down  to  the  time  of  the  end,  and  consequently 
terminate  together.  This  being  the  case,  we  have  only 
to  compute  backward  2200,  2300,  and  2400,  years  from 
the  year  of  our  Lord  1866  ;  and,  according  to  the  epochs 
to  which  they  respectively  lead  us,  we  shall  be  able  to 
decide  with  some  degree  of  probability  zohich  of  those 
three  numbers  is  the  true  reading,  and  consequently  from 
■what  era  we  are  to  date  the  vision  of  the  ram  and  the  he- 
goat. 

If  then  we  compute  backward  2200  years  from  the 
year  of  our  Lord  1866,  we  shall  arrive  at  the  year  A.  C. 
334  :  if  2300  years  from  the  same  period,  at  the  year  A. 
C.  434  :  and  if  lastly  2400  ijears,  at  the  year  A.  C.  .534. 
All  these  three  dates,  namely  the  years  A.  C.  334,  434, 
and  534,  fall  within  the  period,  during  which  the  ram 
continued  stajiding  upon  the  ba^ih  of  his  riter ;  for  he 
stood  there,  as  we  have  seen,  from  the  first  year  of  Cyrus 
or  the  year  A.  C.  536,  to  the  murder  of  Darius  in  the 
year  A.  C.  330  when  the  Persian  monarchy  was  dissolv- 
ed :  we  must  be  guided  therefore  by  circumstances  in 
making  our  choice  among  them.     The  year  A.  C.  534, 

*  The  Persian  monarchy  is  not  reckoned  to  have  ended  till  the  death  of  Darius  ; 
so  long  therefore  t/je  ram  maybe  considered  as  standing  :  for  ahhough  the  he-goat  be- 
gan to  «  smite"  him  in  the  year  A.  C.  334,  he  had  not  finally  "  cast  him  down  to 
the  ground"  till  the  year  A.  C.  3S0.  Hence  Abp.  Usher  observes  from  Justin,  that 
Darius  was  seized  by  Bessus  in  Thara  or  Dara,  a  town  of  the  Parthians,  as  if  it  had 
happened  by  a  kind  of  fatality,  that  the  empire  of  the  Persian!  should  end  in  the  land  of 

those,  who  were  destined  hereafter  to  be  their  successors. Fato  quodam  factum 

hoc  fuisse,  ut  in  terra  eorum,  qui  successuri  imperio  erant,  Persarum  ngnumfniretur. 
Usser.  Annal.  p.  321. 


176 

to  which  we  are  led  by  adopting  the  reading  of  the  Sev- 
entif  or  2400  duifs^  is  the  third  year  of  Cyrus  ;  a  year,  in 
in  which  nothing  very  remarkable  happened,  and  from 
which  therefore  we  can  scarcely  suppose  the  vision  to  be 
dated.*  The  year  A.  C.  434,  to  which  we  are  led  by 
adopting  the  reading  of  the  Hebrew  or  2300  daifs^  is  e- 
qually  devoid  of  any  striking  incident  that  peculiarly  af- 
fected the  empire  of  tlie  ram;  from  this  year  therefore 
we  can  with  as  little  reason  suppose  the  vision  to  be  dat- 
ed as  from  the  former  year.  But  the  year  A.  C.  334,  to 
which  we  are  led  by  adopting  the  reading  mentioned  by 
Jerome  or  2200  daifs^  is  big  with  events  most  materially 
important  to  the  Persian  monarchy  :  for,  in  this  very 
year,  the  Macedonian  he-goat  "  came  from  the  West  on 
the  face  of  the  whole  earth,  and  touched  not  the  ground  ;" 
in  this  very  year,  he  first  "  ran  unto  the  ram  in  the  tury 
of  his  power,"  and  smote  him  upon  the  banks  of  the  riv- 
er Granicus:-|-  hence  I  cannot  refrain  from  thinking  it 
most  probable,  that  the  year  A.  C.  334,  in  which  the  he- 
goat  began  to  attack  the  ram  as  he  was  standing  in  the 
hitherto  undisputed  possession  of  his  authority,  is  the 
real  date  of  the  vision  ;  and  consequently  that  the  num* 
her  2200  is  the  true  reading.;}: 

*"'  It  was  in  this  year  that  Daniel  saw  the  vision  with  which  his  book  concludes  : 
but  it  seems  harsh,  merely  on  that  account,  to  date  from  it  X.\\e present  vision,  which  he 
saw  in  the  tliird  year  of  Belshazzar,  or  in  the  year  A.  C.  55S.  Had  he  seen  them 
b'iib  in  the  third  year  of  Cyrus,  I  should  have  thought  the  year  A.  C.  534  a  probable 
date. 

f  Alexander,  says  Dean  Prideaux,  "  flew  with  victory  swifter  than  others  can 
travel,  often  with  liis  horse  pursuing  his  enemies  upon  the  spur  whole  days  and  nights, 
and  sometimes  making  long  marciies  for  several  days  one  after  the  other,  as  once  he 
did  in  pui-?uit  of  Darius  of  near  fortv  miles  a  day  for  eleven  days  together.  So  that 
by  the  speed  of  liis  marches  he  came  upon  liis  enemy  before  they  were  aware  of  him, 
and  conquered  them  before  they  could  be  in  a  posture  to  resist  him.  Which  exactly 
agrceth  with  the  description  given  of  him  in  the  prophecies  of  Daniel  some  ages  be- 
fore, he  being  in  them  set  forth  under  the  similitude  ol  a  panther  or  leopard  ivith  four 
•wings  :  for  he  was  impetuous  and  fierce  in  liis  warlike  expeditions,  as  a  panther  after 
its  prey  ;  and  came  on  upon  his  enemies  with  that  speed,  as  if  he  flew  with  a  double 
pair  of  wings.  And  to  tliis  purpose  he  is  in  another  place  of  those  prophecies  com- 
pared to  a  bc-goat  coming  from  the  West  with  tliat  swiftness  upon  the  king  of  Media 
and  Persia,  that  he  seemed  as  if  his  feet  did  not  touch  the  ground.  And  his  actions, 
as  well  in  this  comparison  as  in  the  former,  fully  verified  the  prophecy."  (Cited  by 
Bp.  Newton.)  So  astonishingly  rapid  indeed  was  the  progress  of  Alexander,  that, 
bet^vecn  the  years  A.  C.  334  and  330,  he  began  and  completed  the  conquest  of  the 
whole  Persian  empire. 

\  It  is  rather  a  curious  circumstance,  tliat  this  -very  year,  to  wliich  I  have  been  led 
by  calculation,  is  one  of  the  three  years,  which  Bp.  Newton  conjectured  to  afford  pro- 
table  dates  for  the  comraencemciit  of  the  period  of  2000,  L'20O,  of  £400,  years.  See 
Dissert,  xv. 


177 

The  sum  of  what  has  been  said  respecting  the  date  of 
the  1260  ^^/.s  amounts  then  to  this.  Since  the  deso- 
lating transgression  of  Mohammedism  is  to  flourish  1260 
years,  since  I  he  saints  are  to  be  delivered  into  the  hand 
of  the  papal  little  horn  for  the  space  of  1260  years,  since 
the  Roman  heast  is  to  practise  prosperously  in  his  revived 
state  during  the  same  space  of  42  prophetic  tnonths, 
and  since  the  two  horns  and  the  beast  are  all  to  perish 
together  at  the  time  of  the  end,  which  commences  at  the 
termination  of  the  \260  t/ears ;  it  seems  necessarily  to 
follow  that  the  date  of  those  years  can  only  be  an  era 
marked  by  the  following  triple  coincidence  : — the  rise 
of  the  desolating  transgression  of  Mohammedism  : — the 
commencement  of  the  papal  little  liorn^s  spiritual  universal 
empire  ; — and  the  revival  of  the  Roman  beast  by  confer- 
ring upon  his  little  horn  that  spiritual  universal  empire^ 
or,  in  the  language  of  prophecy,  by  giving  the  saints  into 
his  hand.  If  therefore  we  pitch  upon  any  era  not  mark- 
ed by  this  triple  coincidence,  we  shall  have  reason  to 
suspect  that  it  cannot  be  the  true  date  of  the  \Q60  years  ; 
because,  since  the  1260  years  of  Mohammedism,  the  1260 
years  of  the  papal  horn,  and  Me  1260  years  o(  the  revived 
Roman  beast,  all  apparently  terminate  together  at  the 
time  of  the  end,  they  must  in  that  case  all  necessarily  be- 
gin together. 

This  hovvever  is  not  the  only  test  which  the  prophet 
has  given  us  to  ascertain  the  true  date  of  Me  \2bO  years. 
He  has  checked  (if  I  may  use  the  expression)  this  peri- 
od by  another  larger  period,  which  comprehends  it,  and 
which  terminates  along  with  it.  This  larger  period  is 
stated  by  three  different  readings  to  be  2200,  2300,  or 
2400  If  ears. 

Thus  it  appears,  that,  after  we  have  discovered  an  era 
for  the  date  o{  the  1260 years  marked  by  the  triple  coin- 
cidence of  t/?e  i^ise  of  Mohammedism,  the  giving  up  of 
the  saints  into  the  hand  of  the  papal  little  horn,  and  the 
revival  of  the  Roman  beast  bii  thus  giving  up  the  saints  : 
we  must  next  examine,  whether  a  computation  deduced 
from  this  era  will  make  the  larger  period  of  2200,  2J00, 
or  2400,  years,  and  the  smaller  period  of  \260  years., 
rightly  correspond  together.     This  must  be  done  by  first 

VOL.  I.  2.3 


178 

computing  forwards  1260  y«?«r*  from  the  date  which  we 
have  pitched  upon,  aud  afterwards  by  computing  back- 
war^is  2200,  2300,  ««f/2400,  years  from  the  era  to  which 
the  first  computation  brought  us  down  :  for,  since  this 
era  is  eqcmlly  the  supposed  termination  of  both  the  pe- 
riods, it  is  evident,  that,  if  we  compute  backwards  from 
it  the  number  of  years  which  compose  the  larger  period, 
we  shall  arrive  at  the  beginning  of  that  period.  Three 
different  numbers  of  years  however  are  assigned  by  three 
ditF'^rent  readings  to  the  larger  period.  If  then  the  sec- 
ond computation  backwards  from  the  era,  to  which  the 
first  computation  forwards  brought  us  down,  bring  us, 
through  the  medium  of  any  one  of  the  three  numbers 
mentioned  by  the  three  different  readings,  to  an  era  from 
which  the  vision  o\  the  ram  and  the  he-goat  may  be  rea- 
sonably dated  ;  we  shall  have  attained  to  a  very  high  de- 
gree of  probability,  both  that  that  reading  is  the  true  one, 
and  that  we  have  pitched  upon  the  right  date  of  the  1260 
years^  because  the  two  periods,  larger  and  smaller,  are 
found  upon  trial  exactly  to  check  each  other.  But  if, 
on  the  contrary,  the  second  computation  backwards  from 
the  era,  to  which  the  first  computation  forwards  brought 
us  down,  does  not  bring  us,  through  the  medium  of  any 
one  of  the  three  numbers  mentioned  by  the  three  differ- 
ent readings,  to  an  era  from  which  the  vision  of  the  ram 
and  the  he-goat  may  be  reasonably  dated  ;  we  may  then 
be  morally  certain, that  we  hd.venot  pitched  upon  the  right 
date  o{  the  1260  ycars^  because  the  two  periods,  larger  and 
smaller,  are  wo/ found  upon  trial  to  check  e2Lch  other. 

Now  1  am  strongly  inclined  to  believe,  that  the  year 
of  our  Lord  606  is  the  only  era  which  answers  to  both 
these  tests.  It  was  in  this  year  that  the  Mohammedan 
abomination  of  desolation  was  set  up  ;  and  it  was  in  this 
year  that  the  Roman  beast  revived  by  giving  the  saints 
into  the  hand  o^  the  little  papal  horn.  Moreover,  if  we 
first  compute  forwards  from  this  era  1260  years,  we  shall 
arrive  ^t  the  year  1866,  the  supposed  termination  both 
of  the  larger  and  the  smaller  period  ;  and,  if  we  next 
compute  backwards  2200  years  from  the  year  1866  in 
order  to  arrive  at  the  con)mencement  of  the  larger  peri- 
od, the  computation  will  bring  us  to  the  year  A^  C.  334, 


179 

which  is  one  of  the  most  probable  dates  that  could  have 
been  assigned  even  a  priori  to  the  larger  period,  for  it 
was  in  this  very  year  that  tJie  he-goat  began  to  smite  the 
i'wn  as  he  was  standing  upon  the  bank  of  his  river. 

The  propriety  of  fixing  upon  the  year  006  as  the  date 
oi  the  1260  years  will  be  yet  further  manifest,  if  it  be 
shewn  that,  to  all  appearance  at  least,  no  other  era  what- 
soever can  answer  to  the  tests  furnished  by  the  prophet. 
Mr.  JNlede  supposes,  that  the  1260  years  ought  to  be 
dated  from  the  year  455  or  4o6,  when  the  power  of 
Rome  was  completely  broken  by  the  Vandals  though  the 
name  of  Emperor  was  yet  continued.*  independent 
however  of  this  opinion's  having  been  confuted  by  the 
event, f  the  erroneousness  of  it  might  easily  have  been 
detected  even  when  it  was  first  advanced.  The  year 
A56  was  neither  marked  by  the  rise  of  any  poner  whi<-h 
answers  to  the  description  oi  the  desolating  transgression 
connected  zcith  the  he-gout's  little  horn.,  nor  by  any  for- 
mal giving  up  of  the  saints  into  the  hand  of  the  papal 
horn  ;  nor  yet,  when  it  is  checked  by  the  larger  period, 
according  to  any  one  of  its  three  readings,  will  it  bring 
us  to  an  era  from  which  the  vision  of  the  ram  and  the  /^e- 
goat  can  be  reasonably  dated.  Bp.  Newton  seems  to 
hesitate  between  the  ijcar  727,  when  the  Pope  and  the 
Momans  finall}'  broke  their  connection  with  the  Eastern 
E,mperor ;  the  year  7o5,  when  the  Pope  obtained //ze 
Exarchate  oy  Ravenna  ;  the  year  77 i,  when  he  acquired 
by  the  assistance  of  Charlemagne  the  greatest  part  of 
the  kingdom  of  Lombardy  ;  and  the  year  7S7,  when  the 
■worship  of  images  was  fully  established,  and  the  supre- 
macy of  the  Pope  acknowledged  by  the  second  council 
of  Nice  :  of  these  difTerent  dates  however  he  is  inclined 
to  prefer  the  first. :J:     Now,   upon  examination,  not  one 

*  At  least  he  seems  to  hesitate  between  ibis  year,  and  the  years  S65  and  410.  He 
was  induced  to  look  to  so  early  a  period  from  an  idea,  that,  as  soon  as  he  that  leited 
was  taken  out  of  the  way,  the  man  of  sin  should  immediately  be  revealed.  St  Paul 
however  does  not  specify  any  precise  time.  He  only  intimates,  in,  general  terms, 
that  that  Wicked  One  should  not  make  his  appearance  till  after  the  remo\'al  of  him. 
ibat  letted.     See  Apostacy  of  latter  times  Part.  I.  Chap.  13,  14. 

f  lithe  \2^Q  years  be  dated  from  the  year  456,  they  will  expire  in  the  year  17Iff. 
That  year  however  has  certainly  not  been  "  the  time  of  the  end."  Both  the  little  horns 
are  still  in  existence,  and  the  Jckfs  are  yet  scattered  over  the  face  of  the  earth. 

\  Up.  Newton's  Dissert,  xxvi.  3. 


of  them  willbe  found  to  answer  to  the  tests  furnished  by 
the  prophet.  In  none  of  these  years,  except  the  last, 
were  the  saints  given  into  the  hand  of  the  papal  horn  ; 
and,  as  for  the  acknowledgment  made  by  the  council  of 
Nice,  it  was  only  a  repetition  of  the  grant  already  made 
by  the  sixth  head  of  the  beast  :  in  none  of  them  did  amj 
abomination  oj"  desolation  connected  with  the  little  horn  of 
the  he-goat  arise  :  and  none  of  them  will  bear  to  be 
checked  by  the  larger  number  according  to  any  one  of 
its  three  readings.  There  is  yet  another  date  fixed  upon 
by  Mr.  Mann,  which  prima  facie  was  more  probable 
than  any  of  the  preceding  ones.  About  the  year  535 
or  534,*  the  Emperor  Justinian  declared  the  l^ope  to  be 
the  head  of  all  the  churches  :  whence  it  seemed  not  un- 
likely, that  the  1260  i/ears  ought  to  be  dated  from  that 
era.-)*  This  opinion  however,  like  that  of  Mr.  Mede, 
has  both  been   confuted  by  the  event,^  and  might  have 

*  Mr.  Sharpe  asserts,  that  this  happened  in  the  year  540.  (Append,  to  three 
Tracts  on  the  Hebrew  pronunciation  p.  30.)  Exactly  the  same  objections  apply 
to  this  year  as  to  either  of  the  others. 

f  See  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  Rev.  xiii. 

^  If  we  compute  tbe  1 260  years  from  the  year  533  or  534  we  shall  arrive  at  tie 
year  1793  or  1794,  when  neither  the  series  of  events  (Dan.  xi.  40 — 45.  Rev.  xvi. 
17 — 21.  xviii.  xix.)  which  terminate  in  the  destruction  of  i'o/'f>;y  and  Mohammedism 
had  commenced,  and  when  the  restoration  of  the  Jeivs  was  still  future.  The  remark- 
able events,  which  lately  took  place  in  the  year  1798,  led  many  to  suppose,  that 
Popery  was  then  overthrown,  and  consequently  that  the  1260  days  must  be  expired. 
Hence  Dr.  Valpy  and  Mr.  King  named  the  year  538  as  the  era  from  which  that 
period  ought  to  be  dated.  Much  the  same  opinion  was  entertained  by  the  Arch- 
deacon of  Northumberland  and  Archdeacon  Daubeny.  I  need  not  therefore  be 
ashamed  to  mention,  that  I  also  had  once  adopted  a  similar  opinion.  Our  error 
arose  from  not  suiEciently  attending  lo  the  general  tenor  of  prophecy.  The  expi- 
ration of  the  1 260  years  is  to  usher  in,  not  only  //>/.  dntimjall  of  Popery.,  but  likewise 
ihe  subversion  of  Moharnmcd'sm,  the  oi'irthoiv  of  the  Irfdel  tyrant,  and  the  commencement 
cf  the  restoration  of  the  fezi's.  These  events  moreover,  or  at  least  the  greater  part 
of  them,  are  to  take  place  in  Pelestine,  not  in  Europe.  Hence  it  is  manifest,  that  the 
1260  years  have  not  yet  expired.  I  cannot  refrain  from  transcribing  the  judicious 
remarks  of  Dr.  Zouch  upon  this  subject.  "  Though  the  reduction  of  Rome  in  1 798, 
and  the  consequent  subversion  of  the  papal  power  in  that  city,  have  been  declared 
to  be  events  which  determine  the  final  accomplishment  of  the  prophecies  relative 
to  the  fall  of  .Ajitichrist,  it  should  be  remembered  that  similar  events  have  occurred 
in  former  times.  Rome  has  been  frequently  taken  and  plundered  by  a  foreign 
enemy  ;  and  perhaps  the  late  conquest  of  it  was  attended  with  less  atrocious  acts  of 
rapiRe  and  horror,  than  those  which  history  records,  as  the  dreadful  concomitants 
pf  its  former  subjugations.  The  historian  thus  describes  the  enormities  committed 
at  Rome,  when  it  was  laid  waste  in  1527.  Quanta  fuerit  militum  Crmanorum  ac  His- 
panorum  atrocitas  et  I'iolentia  Roma,  •verbis  explicari  "vix  potest.  Nam  pmtcr  horrendas  la- 
nienas,  direptiones ,  libidines,  de-vastationes,  contumelia  ac  tiidihrii  genus  nullum  in  Pontifceni 
Cardi'ialesqae  reliquamque  turbam  pratermissum  fuit."  (Preface  to  Zouch  on  Pro- 
phecy.)    When  Dr.  Zouch  wrote,  Cardinal  Chiaromonte  had  been  elected  Pope  in 


181 

been  confuted  before  the  event.  Mr.  Mannas  assertioa 
I  do  not  contradict,  but  1  doubt  whether  he  has  not 
ocieatlv  mistaken  the  nature  of  Justinian's  2:rant.  Pho- 
cas  declared  the  Pope  to  be  at  once  head  of  all  the 
churches  which  is  a  title  of  dignity,  and  sole  universal 
bishop  which  is  a  title  of  authority  :  whereas  Justinian 
conferred  upon  him  only  the  first  of  these  titles,  styling" 
at  the  very  same  time  the  patriarch  of  Constantinople 
head  of  all  other  churches.^  A  comparison  is  accord- 
ingly drawn  very  judiciously  by  Brightman  between  the 
grant  of  Justinian  and  the  grant  of  Fhocas  :  in  which  he 
states,  that  the  former  only  gave  the  Pope  precedence 
over  all  other  bishops,  and  did  not,  like  the  latter  exclu- 
sively^ constitute  him  Universal  Bishop.'\  Upon  exam- 
ining the  passage  in  the  Novellce  to  which  he  refers,  I 
find  him  perfectly  a'-curate.  The  Emperor  is  simply 
laying  down  the  precedency  of  the  diiferent  patriarchs 
and  prelates  thrnnghout  his  dominions.  Of  these,  the 
patriarchs  come  first  ;  next,  the  archbishops  ;  and  last, 
the  bishops  :  and,  of  the  patriarchs,  the  first  place  is  as- 
signed to  Rome  ;  and  the  second,  to  Constantinople. J 
Thus  it  appears,  that  the  supposed  grant  of  universal epis- 
copacij  dwindles  into  a  mere  question  cy^  empty  preceden- 
cy. Indeed  had  Gregory  himself  borne  the  title  of  Uni- 
versal Bishop,  or  had  it  been  generally  borne  by  his  pre- 
decessors, he  could  not,  in  common  decency,  have  cen- 

the  year  1800,  but  had  not  yet  been  enthroned  at  Rome:  we  have  since  beheld 
Popery  formally  reestablished  in  France,  and  a  compact  entered  into  between  the 
present  usurper  of  the  throne  of  the  Bourbons  and  the  sovereign  pontiff. 

*  "  Omnium  aliarum  caput."     This  plainly  shews,  that  in  the  mind  of  Justinian 

both  the  titles  were  mere  titles.  Head  of  all  the  cburcbes,  and  Head  of  all  the  ether 
fburches,  remind   one  of  Primate    of  all   England,  and  Primate   cf  England.      The   tWO 

first  as  little  confer  uni-versal  episcopacy  in  the  Roman  empire,  as  the  two  last  do  in 
our  own  country.  Nay  even  the  title  of  Ecumenical  seems  to  have  been  borne  both 
by  the  patriarch  of  Constantinople  and  by  the  other  eastern  patriarchs ;  and  con- 
sequently, when  borne  by  more  than  one^  was  a  mere  title.  Phocas  was  the  first,  who 
gave  it  exclusi-vely  to  the  Pope,  and  forbad  all  other  prelates  to  assume  it. 

f  "  Anno  606  to,  —  hie  (Phocas)  Bonifacio  III.  concessit,  ut  Romanis  Uni-versalU 
Episcopus  haberetur  :  non  solum  ut  ordine  ac  honore  rehquos  antecederet,  uti  decrevit 
Justinianus  primatum  sacrarum  synodorum  definiens,  sed  cuitotus  orbis  sua  disecesis 
foret."     Apoc.  Apoc.  Fol.  205. 

i  "  Sancimus,  secundum  earum   (sciL  sacrarum  synodorum)  definitiones,  sanctis- 
simum  senioris  Romse  Papam  primum  esse  omnium  sacerdotum  :  beatissimum  autera 
archiepiscopum  Constantinopoleos  novae  Romae  secundum  habere  locum  post  sanc- 
tam  apostolicam  senioris   Romae    sedem  :  aliis  autem  omnibus  sedibus  prseponatur."' 
Justin.  Novell.  Tifc  14.  Copstitut.  cxjyd,  Cap,  2. 


182 

sured  his  Byzantine  brother  as  the  precursor  of  Anli- 
christ  for  assuming  it.  In  addition  to  this  reason,  the 
prophetic  tests  afford  the  same  insurmountable  objection 
to  the  date  proposed  by  Mr.  Mann  as  they  have  already 
afforded  to  those  proposed  by  Mr.  Mede  and  Bp.  Newton. 
No  desolating  transgression  connected  with  the  little  horn 
of  the  he-horn  arose  in  the  years  533  and  53\\  nor  will 
either  of  those  years  bear  to  be  checked  by  any  of  the 
numbers  which  the  different  readings  assign  to  the  larg- 
er period.  It  is  somewhat  remarkable,  that,  although 
Bp.  Newton  acknowledges  that  "  the  religion  of  Mohani' 
med  will  prevail  in  the  East  for  as  long  a  period  of  time 
■as  the  ti/rannij  of  the  little  horn  in  the  West,"  and  al- 
though he  is  struck  with  the  wonderful  coincidence  of 
*'  Mohammed's  having  first  contrived  his  imposture  in  the 
year  606,  the  very  same  year  wherein  the  tyrant  Phocas 
made  a  grant  of  the  supremacy  to  the  Pope  ;"  yet  he 
is  unwilling  to  date  the  1260  i/ears  from  that  era,  merely 
because  the  Pope  did  not  attain  to  the  height  of  his  tem- 
poral dominion  till  the  eighth  centnrij.*  The  saints  how- 
ever were  given  into  his  hand,  not  surely  by  the  grant 
of  the  Exarchate  and  the  kingdom  of  Lombard y  which  in 
itself  conveys  not  an  atom  of  catholic  spiritual  poicer  in 
the  Churchy  but  by  constituting  him  supreme  in  ecclesi- 
astical matters  by  making  him  a  Bishop  of  all  other 
Sishops :  and  the  prophet  expressly  informs  us,  that  the 
1260  ijears  are  to  be  dated  from  the  era,  when  the  saints 
were  thus  given  into  his  hand. I 

*  Dissert,  xvii.  "  A  time  timis  and  a  half  ixs  three  prophetic  years  and  a  half  ;  and 
three  prophetic  years  and  a  half  are  1260  prophetic  days  ;  and  1260  prophetic  days  are 
\2C)Qi years.  The  same  time  therefore  is  prefixed  for  the  desolation  and  oppression 
of  the  eastern  church,  as  for  the  tyranny  of  the  little  horn  in  the  luestern  church  :  and  it 
is  wonderfully  remarkable,  that  the  doctrine  of  Mohammed  was  first  forged  at 
Mecca,  and  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope  was  established  by  virtue  of  a  grant  from 
the  wicked  tyrant  Phocas,  intlie  very  same  year  of  Christ  606."     Ibid, 

f  Mr.  Bicheno  has  proposed  a  scheme  difTering  both  from  mine,  and  from  those 
of  all  the  preceding  authors, — He  supposes,  that  the  1  260  years  are  to  be  computed 
from  the  year  529,  when  the  code  of  Justinian,  which  he  styles  the  strong  hold  of  cler- 
ical tyranny,  Was  first  published.  They  terminated  consequently  in  the  year  1789, 
when  the  French  revolution  took  place. — To  the  1 260  years  thus  commencing  he  adds 
50  years,  in  order  to  complete  Daniel's  1290  years.  This  second  operation  brings  us 
down  to  the  year  1819  ;  at  which  period  he  conceives  that  the  antichristian  poivers 
(against  whom  the  judgments  of  God  began  to  go  forth  at  the  close  of  the  1 260 
years  in  the  year  1789)  will  be  finally  broken,  and  that  the  restoration  of  the  Ji^vs  will 
commence.-^From  the  year  1819,  when  the  sanctuary  wi]l  be  completely  cleansed,  by 


183 

The  result  of  the  whole  is,  that,  since  the  year  606  is 
the  only  era  which  perfectly  answers  to  the  prophetic 

the  overthrow  of  the  Papacy  which  he  assumes  to  be  the  desolating  transgression  men- 
tioned in  Dan.  viii.  13.  and  xii.  11,  he  next  computes  backwards  2300  years,  m  order 
to  arrive  at  the  beginning  of  the  vision  of  the  ram  and  the  he-goat.  This  third  opera- 
tion brings  us  to  the  year  A.  C.  481  ;  at  which  period  Xerxes  set  out  to  invade 
Greece,  for  Mr.  Bicheno  supposes  that  the  wars  of  that  prince  are  foretold  in  Dan. 
viii.  4,  20.— Lastly  to  the  1  290  years,  terminating  in  the  year  1819,  he  adds  45  years, 
m  order  to  complete  Daniel's  1335  ^fi^rj-.  This  final  operation  brings  us  down  to 
the  year  1864  ;  when  the  restoration  of  the  Jezvs  (to  which  he  assigns  the  space  of  45 
years)  will  be  completed,  and  when  the  distant  heathen  nations  will  be  converted  to 
Christianity.     (Signs  of  the  times  Part  I.  p.  52 — 61.) 

J  feel  some  degree  of  unwillingness  to  urge  any  objections  against  this  scheme  of 
Mr.  Bicheno  ;  because  so  fery  short  a  space  of  time,  about  13  years  only,  will  either 
practically  demonstrate  it  to  be  right  (at  least  so  far  as  the  restoration  of  the  Je-ws  is 
concerned,)  or  effectually  j>reclude  the  necessity  of  any  verbal  confutation.  With 
my  present  views  of  the  subject,  it  certainly  appears  xo  me  erroneous  in  every  point ; 
and  it  is  my  firm  behef  that  the  rapidly  approaching  jf^r  1819  will  prove  it  to  be 
so. — ^Jirst  object  to  the  era,  from  which  the  1 260  years  are  computed.  The  fustinian 
code,  says  Mr.  Bicheno,  granted  vast  potvers  and  privileges  to  the  clergy,  and  perfected  thl 
union  betiveen  things  civil  and  ecclesiastical.  All  this  may  be  very  true  :  but  how^  can  a 
grant  of  privileges  to  the  clergy  in  general,  both  in  the  east  and  in  the  ivest,  be  a  delivering 
of  the  saints  into  the  hand  of  the  papal  horn  in  particular,  -whose  jurisdiction  zvas  confined 
to  the  patriarchate  of  the  IVest  ?  Mr.  BichenO  replies,  If  fustinian  did  not  declare  the  Pope- 
head  of  all  the  churches  in  the  year  529,  he  certainly  did  as  early  as  the  year  534.  Now, 
even  supposing  that  Justinian  had  conferred  the  power  of  Universal  Episcopacy  upoa 
the  Pope,  which  he  certainly  did  not  for  he  granted  him  nothing  more  than  an  empty 
precedence  over  all  the  other  patriarclis,  what  has  this  to  do  with  the  date  which 
Mr.  Bicheno  has  chosen  ?  If  the  1260 years  be  computed  from  the  year  534,  they  carry 
us  beyond  the  year  1789  ;  and  an  error  of  fve  years  as  effectually  invalidates  a  nu- 
merical calculation  as  an  error  oi  fve  centuries:  if  they  be  not  computed  from  the 
year  534,  but  from  the  year  529,  they  will  no  doubt  bring  us  exactly  to /i5f  ^(»ar  1789; 
but,  in  that  case,  what  can  an  event  which  happened  in  the  year  534  have  to  do  with 
a  date  which  is  declared  to  be  the  year  529  f — I  next  object  to  the  supposed  termina- 
tion of  the  1 260  years.  Though  I  think  Mr.  Bicheno  perfectly  right  in  supposing 
that  the  judgments  of  God  v.'ill  begin  to  go  forth  against  his  enemies  at  the  end  of  the 
1260  years,  and  that  30  years  will  elapse  before  those  enemies  are  fnally  destroyed ; 
1  believe  him  to  be  quite  mistaken  in  assigning  the  termination  of  those  30  years  as  the 
proper  date  of  the  commencement  of  the  restoration  cf  the  feivs.  Daniel  plainly  teaches 
us,  that  the  Jczvs  will  begin  to  be  restored,  not  at  the  end  cf  the  30  years,  but  at  the 
beginning  of  them  ;  that  is  to  say,  not  at  the  end  of  the  1290  years,  but  at  the  end  of 
the  three  times  and  a  half  or  the  1 260  years,  (Dan.  xii.  6,  7.)  Accordingly,  after  hav- 
ing described  the  expedition  and  overthrow  of  the  king  zvho  magnifed  himself  above 
every  god  2.S  taking  place  at  the  time  of  the  end  or  at  the  termination  of  the  1260  years,  he 
adds  that  at  that  same  time  the  nation  of  the  Jeivs  should  be  delivered.  (Dan.  xi. 
40 — 45.  xii.  1.)  What  probably  led  Mr.  Bicheno  into  his  mistake  was  his  referring 
the  expression  at  that  time  (xii.  1.)  to  the  overthroiv  of  the  king  (xi.  45.)  instead  of  re- 
ferring it  (as  he  ought  to  have  done)  to  the  beginning  of  the  king's  expedition  or  the  com- 
niencement  of  the  time  of  the  end.  (xi.  40.)  That  the  latter  reference  is  the  proper  one, 
is  manifest  both  from  the  subsequent  declaration  of  Daniel  (xii.  6,  7.)  and  from  the 
unvarying  tenor  cf  all  the  prophecies  which  speak  of  the  restoration  of  the  Jews, 
They  unanimously  represent  tliem  as  being  opposed  in  their  own  land,  and  even 
Ijesieged  in  their  own  capital  city,  by  the  antichristian  confederacy  :  hence  it  is  plain, 
that  their  restoration  must  have  commenced,  not  contemporaneously  with  the  overthrow 
of  that  confederacy,  but  some  time  previous  to  its  overthrov,' ;  otherwise  how  can  the 
various  matters,  which  are  predicted  respecting  them,  receive  their  accomplishment  ? 
Hoiv  long  indeed  before  this  overthrow  their  restoration  will  commence,  the  unchro- 
ndogical  prophets  jio  where  tell  us ;  but  Daniel,  as  we  have  seen,  amplv  makes  up 


tS4 

tests,  there  is  at  least  a  venj  hlg;h  degree  of  prohahility 
that  it  is  the  true  date  of  the  commence. uenf  of  the  12  »0 
dai/s*     In  this  year,  the  saints  were  given  mro  the  hand 

their  deficiency  by  informing  us,  that  they  will  begin  to  be  delivered  at  t/je  time  of 
the  end  or  at  the  close  of  the  \  260  years,  when  all  the  predictions  relative  to  the  v/on- 
derful  events  comprehended  within  the  three  times  and  a  half  &h.?i\\  have  been  xuliiiled. 
On  these  grounds  we  may  safely,  I  think,  conclude,  that  the  1260  years  did  not 
expire  in  the  year  1789,  because  the  yetcs  did  not  then  begin  to  be  restored:  and, 
even  if  their  restoration  should  commence  in  the  year  1819  as  Mr.  Bicheno  expects, 
»uch  an  event  would  be  no  demonstration  of  the  rest  of  his  system  ;  on  the  contra- 
ry, it  would  confute  it,  because  it  would  prove  that  the  1260  years,  instead  of  expir- 
ing in  the  year  1789,  expired  in  the  year  1819. — I  thirdly  object  to  his  computing  the 
1290  years  and  the  1335  years  from  the  year  529,  on  the  ground  that  the  abomination  of 
desolation,  mentioned  in  Dan.  viii.  13.  and  xii.  1 1,  is  the  Papacy.  That  these  tzvo periods 
are  to  be  dated  from  the  same  era  as  the  1260  years,  cannot,  I  think,  be  reasonably 
doubted  :  in  this  point  therefore  Mr.  Bicheno  and  I  perfectly  agree.  We  both  like- 
^vise  agree,  that  all  the  three  periods  are  to  be  dated  from  the  setting  up  of  the  abomination 
if  desolation  :  for  neither  can  this  position  be  reasonably  doubted.  We  lastly  agree, 
that  one  and  the  same  abomination  of  desolation  is  spoken  of  both  in  Dan.  viii.  1 3.  and  in 
Dan.  xii.  1 1  ;  and  that  this  abomination  cannot  be  referred  to  the  pollution  of  the  literal 
temple  by  the  Romans  as  predicted  (according  to  our  Lord's  own  exposition)  in  Dan. 
xi.  31,  because  the  numbers  connected  with  it  render  such  a  reference  impossible. 
Thus  far  we  are  perfectly  agreed  ;  but  here  we  begin  to  differ.  Mr.  Biclieno  main- 
tains, that  the  desolating  transgression,  connected  with  the  little  horn  of  the  he-goai  and  with 
the  numbers  1290  and  1335,  is  the  Papacy,  which  he  contends  was  set  up  by  the  code 
of  Justinian  in  the  year  529  :  I,  on  the  contrary,  most  explicitly  deny  that  this  deso- 
lating transgression  is  the  Papacy.  L.et  the  little  horn  of  the  he-goat  be  Antiochus  Ep!phanes,the 
Roman  empire,  or  any  other  potver  ;  it  certainly  cannot  be  the  Papacy,  because  the  Pa- 
pacy never  was  a  horn  of  the  he-goat  or  Macedonian  empire.  Hence  it  is  evident,  that 
the  desolating  transgression  connected  with  the  Macedonian  little  horn,  which  was  to  take 
away  the  daily  sacrifice  and  to  give  both  the  sanctuary  and  the  host  to  be  trodden 
under  foot,  cannot  be  the  Papacy  ■•  and,  if  it  be  not  the  Papacy,  we  have  no  right  to 
date  the  \260 years  the  1290  years  2.nd  the  lHo  years  from  the  year  529,  unless  it  can 
be  shewn  that  some  desolating  transgression,  \\'hich  afterwards  became  a  horn  of  the  he- 
goat  and  which  fully  answers  to  the  prophetic  description  of  it,  arose  in  the  year  529. 
This  however  Mr.  Bicheno  will  find  it  no  very  easy  matter  to  do  :  therefore  tht 
three  periods  cannot  be  dated  from  the  year  529. -Here  I  might  stop  ;  for,  if  Mr.  Bi- 
cheno's  foundation  give  way,  his  superstructure  falls  to  the  ground  of  course  :  vet  I 
cannot  refrain  from  noticing  the  strange  era  which  he  has  pitched  upon  as  the  prop- 
er date  of  the  larger  number  2300,  and  consequently  of  the  vision  of  the  ram  and  the  he- 
goat.  A  computation  deduced,  not  from  the  end  of  the  12G0  years  as  it  ought  to  have 
b£en,  but  from  the  end  of  the  \290  years  (that  is  to  say,  from  what  he  supposes  to  be 
the  end  of  the  \2Q0  years),  brings  him  to  the  year  A.  C.  481,  in  which  Xerxes  set  out 
to  invade  Greece  ;  and  this  famous  expedition  he  aflirms  to  be  specially  predicted 
under  the  imagery  of  the  pushing  of  the  ram.  Never  surely  was  history  more  injudi- 
ciously brought  forward  as  the  interpreter  of  prophecy.  Daniel  tells  us,  that  the 
pushing  of  the  ram  was  SO  irresistible,  that  no  beast  could  stand  before  him,  and  that 
none  could  deliver  out  of  his  hand,  but  that  he  did  according  to  his  will,  and  be- 
came great.  Herodotus  assures  us,  that  the  huge  unvneldy  armament  of  Xerxes  was 
totally  discomfited  by  the  Greeks,  and  that  the  king  himself  was  compelled  to  flee 
with  disgraceful  precipitancy  into  Asia.  In  fact  the  the  pushing  of  the  ram  relates  al- 
most exclusively  to  the  victories  of  Cyrus,  which  were  achieved  long  before  Xerxes 
came  to  the  throne. 

My  general  conclusion  is  this  :  that  Mr.  Bicheno's  scheme,  though  not  deficient 
in  ingenuity,  rests  upon  no  solid  foundation.  A  very  few  years  however,  as  I  have 
already  observed,  will  irrefragably  decide  the  question  between  us. 

Mr.  Fleming  fixes  the  rise  of  Popery  properly  lo  called,  that  is  to  say,  the  com•^ 


186 

Khi  the  papal  horn  :  in  this  year  the  Mohammedan  trans," 
gression  of  desolation^  which  shortly  after  its  rise  became 
by  the  conquest  of  Syria  a  horn  of  the  he-goat^  was  set 
up  :*  and  a  computation,  deduced  from  this  year,  brings 
us  precisely  to  the  very  year  in  which  Alexander  invad- 
ed Asia,  one  of  the  most  proper  dates  that  could  have 
been  assigned  even  a  priori  to  the  vision  o{  the  ram  and 
the  he-goat.  Positive  certainty  indeed  in  such  matters 
is  the  high  privilege  of  God  alone  :  yet  a  triple  coinci- 
dence is  not,  1  think,  to  be  slighted.  According  to  what 
is  called  the  doctrine  of  chances^  the  improbability  of  an 
accidental  triple  coincidence  bears  a  much  higher  ratio 
to  the  improbability  of  only  an  accidental  double  coinci- 
dence, than  the  number  three  does  to  the  number  tzi)o.\ 

I  shall  now  proceed  to  compare  the  character  of  ^/^e 
he-goafs  little  horn  with  the  character  of  \lohttmmedism^ 
in  order  that  their  identity  may  be  proved  as  well  by 
circumstantial  as  by  chronological  correspondence. 

I.  "  For  how  long  a  time  shall  the  vision  last,  the  dai- 
ly sacrifice  be  taken  away,  and  the  transgression  of  des- 

niencement  of  the  spiritual  empire  of  the  Pope,  to  "  that  memorable  year  606,  whert 
Phocas  did  in  a  manner  devolve  the  government  of  the  West  upon  Boniface  the 
third,  by  giving  him  the  title  of  supreme  and  universal  Bishop  .■"  yet  he  afterwards, 
with  an  inconsistency  similar  to  that  of  Bp.  Newton,  dates  the  1260  years  from  the 
,  year  758,  when  he  supposes  the  Papacy  to  have  been  established.  His  own  expres- 
sion, "  by  steps  he  hath  been  raised  up,  and  by  steps  must  he  be  pulled  down,"  might 
have  shewn  him,  that  the  tyrannical  reign  of  the  papal  born  ought  to  be  dated,  not 
surely  from  the  era  of  its  meridian  splendor,  but  from  the  very  first  year  that  it 
commenced,  from  the  time  w^hen  the  saints  were  first  given  into  the  hand  of  the 
born.  We  date  the  age  of  a  man  from  the  day  of  his  birth,  not  from  the  period 
of  his  adolescence  :  why  then  must  a  different  mode  be  adopted  in  computing  the 
duration  of  a  spiritual  catholic  empire  ?  Besides  this  objection  to  dating  the  1260  years 
irom.  the  year  158,  that  era  is  equally  unable  to  bear  the  tests  proposed  by  the  pro- 
phet as  every  other  era  which  has  been  pitched  upon,  one  only  excepted,  the  year 
606,  which  has  been  found  exactly  to  answer  to  those  tests,  and  which  I  have  there- 
fore concluded  to  be  the  true  date  of  the  1260  years.  Mr.  Galloway  adopts  the 
first  conjecture  of  Mr.  Fleming,  rejecting  very  judiciously  his  subsequent  inconsist- 
ency.    (Comment,  p.  88,  129.J 

*  The  extreme  accuracy  of  the  prophet  is  highly  worthy  of  our  notice.  He 
does  not  direct  us  to  date  the  1 260  years  from  the  rise  of  the  he-goat's  little  horn,  but 
from  the  incipient  pollution  of  the  spiritual  sanctuary  and  the  setting  up  of  that  desolating  trans- 
gression which  afterivards  became  a  horn  of  the  he-goat.  (Dan.  xii.  11.)  Had  we  been 
directed  to  date  them  from  the  rise  of  Mohammedism  as  a  horn  of  the  he-goat,  we  must 
liave  dated  them  some  years  later  than  the  year  606. 

f  What  I  mean  is  this,  if  the  gravity  of  my  subject  will  permit  me  to  use  such  a 
mode  of  exemplification.  A  double  coincidence  I  compare  to  throtuing  tivo  aces  ivitb 
tivo  dice ;  a  triple  coincidence,  to  throtuing  three  aces  ivith  three  dice.  Now  it  is  well 
known,  that  the  chance  against  throwing  the  latter  i?j  to  thp  chance  agaijist  throw- 
ing the  former,  much  more  than  three  to  t-wo. 
VOL.   T.  '?t 


186 

olation  continue,  to  give  both  the  sanctuary  and  the  host 
to  be  trodden  under  foot  ?" 

1.  We  have  seen,  that  the poicer  sifinholized  hij  the  lit' 
tie  horn  <tf  the  he-goat^  whatever  power  it  may  he,  is  to 
flourish  1260  1/ ears,  computing  from  its  rise  m  the  char- 
acter of  «  de^olafitig  transgr  ssion ;  and  therefore  that 
the  prosperous  duration  of  this  poicer  is  to  be  exactly 
contemporary  with  the  tyranniccU  reign  of  the  papal  lit- 
tle horn.  We  have  likewise  seen  reason  to  beheve,  that 
that  tijrunnical  reign  commenced  in  the  year  606,  when 
the  saints  were  delivered  into  the  hand  of  the  Bishop  of 
Rome  ;  and  consequently  that  we  must  look  for  the  rise 
of  the  poicer  symbolized  bij  the  he-goafs  little  horn  in 
that  same  year.  Accordingly,  upon  turning  our  eyes  to 
the  East,  we  found  that  Mohammedism  arose  in  that 
very  year  ;  and  we  know,  that  no  other  power  did  then 
arise,  which  either  afterwards  became  a  little  horn  of  the 
he-goat.,  or  which  at  all  corresponds  with  its  prophetic 
character  :  whence  we  concluded  from  this  chronologi- 
cal coincidence,  that  that  horn  was  designed  to  symbo- 
lize Mohammedism.  Such  being  the  case,  our  first  in- 
quiry must  be,  in  what  sense  Mohaminedism  can  be  sym- 
bolized by  a  horn. 

I  have  already  shewn,  that  the  language  of  symbols 
allows  the  same  hieroglyphic  to  bear  both  a  temporal 
and  a  ^/^//W^o/ signification.  Thus  we  find,  that  a  moun- 
tain is  used  to  typify  both  the  iemj)oral  kingdom  of  Bab- 
ylon., and  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  Christ  ;*  thus  like- 
wise a  beast  indifferently  represents  a  secidar  and  an  ec- 
clesiastical empire  :  and  thus,  arguing  from  analogy,  a 
horn  denotes  either  a  temporal  or  a  spiritual  kingdom. 

Now  we  have  seen,  that  the  little  horn  of  the  Roman 
beast  typifies  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  the  Papacy^  which, 
small  as  it  was  at  first,  in  process  of  time  hec2ivae  a  great 
empire  symbolized  in  the  i\pocalypse  by  a  tzco-horned 
beast.  Such  being  the  case,  even  if  we  had  not  been 
assisted  by  chronological  computation  in  our  inquiries, 
we  should  naturally  have  been  led,  merely  by  the  anal- 
ogy of  symbolical  language,  to  conclude,  that  the  little 

*  Jerem.  li.  2J.  Daa.  ii,  35. 


187 

horu  of  the  Macedonian  beast  typified  a  spiritual  khigdom 
likewise  :  for  it  seems  by  no  means  agreeable  to  the 
strict  accuracy  of  that  language  to  sujDpose,  that  fhe  Ro- 
man little  horn  means  a  kingdom  of  one  kimi,  and  that 
the  Macedonian  little  hor?i  means  a  kuigdom  quite  of 
another  kind* 

So  again,  with  regard  to  local  situation  :  since  the  little 
horn  of  the  Roman  beast  is  to  be  sought  for  in  the  Wesf^ 
we  may  naturally,  not  to  say  necessarily,  conclude,  that 
the  little  horn  of  the  Macedonian  beast  is  to  be  sought 
for  in  the  East. 

Thus  we  find,  that  chronological  computation,  sym- 
bolical analogy,  and  local  situation,  all  lead  us  to  suppose 
that  the  religion  of  Mohammed  is  typified  by  the  little 
horn  of  the  Macedonian  beast.  We  must  next  consult 
history. 

Accordingly,  as  history,  when  viewed  in  connection 
"with  prophecy,  has  shewn  us,  that  the  little  horn  of  the 
Roman  beast  means  the  spiritual^  not  the  temporal,  king- 
dom ofthePpe;  so  history  will  likewise  shew  us,  when 
viewed  in  connection  with  prophecy,  that  the  little  horn 
of  the  Macedonian  beast  means  the  spiritual,  not  the  tern- 
poral^  kingdom  of  Mohammed. 

The  desolating  trangression,  which  Daniel  identifies 
with  the  he-goat\^  little  horn,  was  to  arise  in  the  year 
606,  at  the  commencement  of  the  1260  years^  during 
which  it  was  to  flourish,  and  during  which  the  Roman 
little  horn  was  to  reign  over  the  saints.  No  power  did 
then  arise  in  the  Blast  except  the  religion  of  Mohammed ; 
and  the  religion  of  Mohammed  arose  in  that  very  year. 
As  for  the  secular  authority  of  that  impostor  either  with- 
out or  within  the  limits  of  the  he-goafs  late  empire,  it 
did  not  commence  till  several  years  afterwards.  Hence 
we  may  conclude,  agreeably  to  the  analogy  of  symbolical 
language,  that  the  horn  denotes  not  the  temporal  domin- 
ion, but  the  religion  of  Mohammed.  This  conclusion,  I 
allow,  does  not  quite  necessarily^  follow  from  the  premi- 

*  This  afFords  another  argument  to  shew,  that  the  little  horn  of  the  he-goat  cancQt 
be  the  Roman  empire  or  the  fourth  great  beast,  as  Sir  Isaac  and  Bp.  Newton  suppose. 

f  Because  my  iirst  argument  only  proves,  that  the  desolating  transgression  must  be 
a  spiritual  power,  not  that  ths  lHll,e  Urn  VRa§t,  with  which  it  was  afterwards  ijjdeiiti- 


188 

ses  :  but  mark  the  sequel.  The  power  symbolized  hy 
the  horn^  after  it  had  arisen  in  the  year  606,  was  to  con- 
tinue 1260  ijeurs.  Consequently,  as  this  date,  and  this 
period  of  years,  exclude  Antiochus  Epiphanes  and  the 
Romans  from  having  any  connection  with  the  horn;  so 
do  they  equally  exclude  the  temporal  kingdom  erected 
by  Mohammed.  That  kingdom,  instead  of  being  set  up 
in  the  year  606  which  the  prophecy  requires,  did  not 
commence,  according  to  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  till  the  year 
637  '■  and,  after  it  had  commenced,  it  lasted  no  more 
than  300  yea}'s  :  or,  if  we  date  its  rise  somewhat  earlier 
in  the  life-time  of  Mohammed  when  he  became  prince  of 
Medina  in  the  ijear  b'-2'2,  still  it  will  not  have  commenced 
in  the  year  606,  and  still  its  duration  will  scarcely  amount 
even  to  one  quarter  of  1260  years.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  religion  or  spiritual  kingdom,  of  Mohammed  arose 
precisely  in  the  the  year  606  ;  has  already  continued 
nearly  12  centuries  ;  and  has  every  appearance  of  con- 
tinuing, in  some  one  of  the  countries  where  it  is  profess- 
ed, to  the  very  end  of  the  1260  years.  At  its  first  rise 
it  was  to  be  little,  comprehending  two  or  at  the  most 
only  three  persons,  namely  Mohammed  and  his  two 
apostate  associates  :*  but  it  was  not  long  to  remain  so. 
The  prophet  informs  us,  that,  small  as  it  originally  was, 
it  soon  "  waxed  exceeding  great  toward  the  South,  and 
toward  the  East,  and  toward  the  pleasant  land."  Mo- 
hammedism  accordingly,  though  it  made  its  first  appear- 
ance at  Mecca,  soon  invaded  the  territories  of  Mc' 6'j/nW 
horn  of  the  he-goat^  thus  becoming  (agreeably  to  the 
prediction)  a  horn  of  the  he-goat ;  and  afterwards,  exclu- 
sive of  its  propagation  in  other  regions,  spread  itself  over 
the  zvhole  Macedonian  empire,  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  little  horn  of  the  Roman  beast  extended  its  influence 
over  the  xvhole  Western  empire,     Thus  did  the  great 

fied.  It  is  almost  superfluous  to  observe,  that  a  power  may  beat  once  both  spiritual 
and  temporal.  My  second  argument  tlierefore  goes  on  to  prove,  that  the  desolating 
little  horn  must  itself  be  a  spiritual  power. 

*  The  Rabbinical  tales,  with  which  the  Koran  is  so  largely  embellished,  Moham- 
med is  supposed  to  have  learned  from  a  Persian  Jew  :  and  for  those  parts  of  his 
multifarious  work,  which  touch  upon  Christianity,  he  is  thought  to  have  been  in- 
debted to  the  Nestorian  monk  Sergius  or  Baheira.  All  the  rest  he  himself  was 
amply  tjualified  to  supply.     See  Prideaux's  Life  of  Mohammed,  p.  43—49. 


189 

double  Aposiacif  set  its  two  feet  upon  tlie  East  and  the 
West  in  the  self-saoje  year  ;  and  thus  hath  it  ever  since 
continued  to  trample  upon  all  true  reiis^ion.  At  the. 
end  however  of  the  1260  years,  the  judgments  of  Gud 
shall  surely  go  forth  against  it,  and  the  long  polluted 
spiritual  sanctuary  shall  begin  to  be  thoroughly  cleansed. 

2.  The  false  religion  of  Mohammed,  symbolized  by 
the  little  horn  of  the  he-goat,  and  stigmatized  by  Daniel 
as  being  a  desolating  transgression,  was  a  medley  of  cor- 
rupted Christianity  furnished  by  an  apostate  monk,  of 
Talmudical  Judaism  contributed  by  a  renegado  Jew,  and 
of  Arabian  superstition  purified  of  its  idolatry  by  Mo- 
hammed himself:  whence  it  may  justly  be  termed,  as  it 
is  represented  by  St.  John,*  an  apostactj  from  the  pure 

faith  of  revelation.  Mohammed  taught,  that  the  several 
prophets,  Adam,  Noah,  Abraham,  Moses,  Christ,  and 
himself,  rose  in  just  gradation  above  "  each  other  ;  and 
that  whosoever  hates  or  rejects  any  one  of  them  is  to 
be  numbered  with  the  infidels."  For  the  great  author 
of  our  faith  especially  the  Mussulmans  were  required  to 
entertain  a  high  and  mysterious  veneration.  "  Verily," 
says  he,  "  Christ  Jesus,  the  son  of  Mary,  is  the  apostle, 
of  God,  and  his  Word  which  he  conveyed  unto  Mary, 
and  a  spirit  proceeding  from  him  :  honourable  in  this 
world,  and  in  the  world  to  come  ;  and  one  of  those  who 
approach  near  to  the  presence  of  God."*]"  Agreeably  to 
these  declarations,  Mohammed  acknowledged  the  divine 
authority  of  the  Pentateuch,  the  Psalms,  and  the  Gos- 
pel \%  but  required  that  the  Koran  should  be  received 
along  with  them,  or  rather  should  supersede  them.  Such 
was  the  nature  of  that  desolating  transgression,  which 
set  itself  in  direct  opposition  to  the  prince  of  the  host, 
and  which  stood  up  against  the  prince  of  princes. 

3.  When  the  Arabian  pseudo  prophet  first  retired  to 
the  cave  of  Hera  to  fabricate  the  Koran,  this  being  the 
first  overt  act  of  his  imposture,    we  may  consider  that 

*  Af.illm  stir,  when  taken  in  a  spiritual  sense,  is  the  symbol  of  an  apostate  Christ- 
ian pastor.  Such  a  star  was  Sergius,  who  opened  the  bottomless  pit,  and  let  out  the 
false  religion  of  Mohammed,     Rev.  ix.  1. 

t  Koran.  C.  3  and  C.  4. 
i  Sale's  Prelim.  Discourse,  p.  100— Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  ix.  p.  264—266. 


1^0 

transgression  of  desolation^  which  afterwards  caused  tJie 
dailif  sacrifice  to  cease,  and  which  gave  both  iiie  sanctit' 
arif  and  the  host  to  be  trodden  under  foot,  as  being  then 
first  set  u  p.  This  sanctuarij  is  the  spiritual  sanctuarij  of  the 
Christian  churchy  not  the  literal  sanctuarij  of  the  Jeicish 
temple,  as  will  sufficiently  appear  from  the  following  con- 
siderations. 

According  as  the  temple  and  the  sanctuary  are  to  be 
faken  in  a  literal  or  a  figurative  sense  when  mentioned 
in  the  prophecies  of  Daniel  and  St.  John,  all  other  things 
connected  with  them  must  be  taken  in  a  literal ov  figur- 
ative sense  likewise.  Thus,  when  it  is  said,  that  the 
Roman  arms  should  stand  up  after  Aniiochus,  that  they 
should  pollute  the  sanctuarij  of  strength,  that  they  should 
take  away  the  daily  sacrifice,  and  that  they  should  set  up 
the  abomination  of  desolation  :  the  temp  e,  which  they 
polluted,  being  the  literal  temple  of  Jerusalem,  the  daily 
sacrifice  talien  away  by  them  will  of  course  mean  the  lit- 
eral daily  sacrifice,  and  the  abomination  (f  desolation  set 
up  by  them  will  signify  the  literal  abomination  of  desola- 
tion which  they  set  up  when  they  worshipped  their  stand- 
ards within  the  precincts  of  the  sanctuary.  On  the  other 
hand,  when  St.  John  is  directed  by  an  angel  to  "  meas- 
ure the  temple  of  God,  and  the  altar^  and  them  that  wor- 
ship therein ;  but  to  leave  out,  and  not  to  measure  the 
court  without  the  temple,  inasmuch  as  it  is  given  to  the 
gentiles,  who  are  to  tread  the  holij  city  under  foot  fortij 
and  two  months, ^^  or  1260  natural  if  ears  :  the  temple,  here 
mentioned,  being  the  spiritual  temple  of  God,  or  the 
Church  ;  its  altar,  its  daily  sacrifice,  its  outer  court,  the 
holy  citym  which  it  stands,  the  gentiles  who  are  to  tread 
it  under  foot  1260  years,  and  the  witnesses  who  are  to 
prophesy  in  sackcloth  during  precisely  the  same  period  of 
time,  must  all  be  taken  in  a  figurative  sense  ;  that  is  to 
say,  they  must  all  be  referred  not  to  the  temple  of  Jeru- 
salem, but  to  the  Church  of  Christ.  Now  we  have  seen, 
that  Mohammedism,  or  that  desolating  transgression  con- 
nected zoith  the  he-s:oafs  little  horn  which  was  to  take 
away  the  dailij  sacrifce  and  to  pollute  the  sanctuary,  was 
to  flourish  during  the  very  same  period  as  the  treading 
imder  foot  of  the  apocalyptic  holy  city  by  the  gentiles ; 


I 


191 

that  is  to  say,  during  the  space  of  1 260  years.  Since  theii 
the  Mohammedan  transgression^  which  was  destined  in 
the  course  of  its  desolating  progress  to  take  away  the 
daily  sacrifice  and  to  pollute  the  sanctuary,  is  to  flourish 
1200  years  :  and  since  the  outer  court  of  the  apocalifpt'ic 
temple  is  to  be  trodden  under  foot  during  the  same  peri- 
od of  1260  ^fears  :  it  will  necessarily  follow,  that  the  sanC' 
tuary  mentioned  by  Daniel  is  the  same  as  the  temple  men- 
tioned by  St.  John  ;  in  other  words,  that  it  is  the  Church 
of  Christ.  This  supposition  is  decidedly  established  by 
the  particular  era  when  the  desolating  transgression  of 
Mohammcd'ism  fust  made  its  appearance.  The  era  in 
question  is  the  year  in  which  the  Roman  beast  revived, 
or  the  year  of  our  Lord  606  :  at  this  era,  the  literal  sanc' 
tuary  of  the  Jewish  temple  was  no  longer  in  existence, 
having  been  utterly  destroyed  by  the  Romans  several 
centuries  before  ;  consequently,  the  Jewish  temple  cannot 
be  the  sanctuary  which  the  Utile  horn  was  to  pollute: 
but,  if  it  be  not  the  literal  Jewish  temple^  it  can  be  noth- 
ing else  but  the  Christian  spiritual  temple.  On  these 
grounds  then  I  conceive,  that  the  pollution  of  the  sanctu- 
arij  by  the  eastern  little  horn  is  the  establishment  of  the 
Mohammedan  Apostacy  upon  the  ruins  of  the  Greek 
church  ;  and  that  the  treading  under  foot  of  the  outer 
court  of  the  temple  by  the  gentiles  is  the  subjugation  of 
the  Latin  church  by  the  Papal  Apostacy.  We  shall  find, 
that  the  declaration  of  prophecy  concerning  these  matters 
precisely  accords  with  the  event.  The  Latin  church  was 
to  be  trampled  under  foot  during  the  whole  period  oi  the 
1260  years  ;  but  the  sanctuary  and  the  host  of  the  Greek 
church  were  not  to  begin  to  be  trodden  under  foot  till 
some  time  after  the  rise  of  the  Mohammedan  little  horn, 
in  short  not  till  after  it   had  waxed  exceeding  great.* 

*  Compare  Rev.  xi.  2.  with  Dan.  viii.  9 — 12.  It  might  at  first  be  thought  indeed 
{rem  Dan.  xii.  1 1,  that  the  daily  sacrifice  should  begin  to  be  taken  away  so  soon  as 
the  abo?nination  of  desolation  should  be  set  up  :  but  the  preceding  context  of  Dan.  viii. 
9 — 1 2.  sufficiently  shews,  that  those  1290  da\s  are  to  be  computed,  not  from  the 
taking  atvay  of  the  daily  sacrifice,  but  from  the  setting  up  of  the  desolating  abomination, 
v.'hich  in  the  course  of  its  triumphant  progress  should  take  away  that  daily  sacrifa: 
and  pollute  the  sanctuary.  The  Mohammedan  little  horn  was  to  wax  exceeding  great  '. 
and,  in  the  course  of  its  thus  waxing  great,  not  at  its  first  rise,  it  was  to  cause  the 
sanctuary  to  be  polluted.  Such  is  the  order  of  events  in  the  prophecy,  and  exactly 
such  has  beea  their  order  in  the  completion  of  it.     At  the  time  when  the  d?solating 


192 

Accordingly  the  Latin  church  was  subjugated  by  the  pa- 
pal horn  in  the  year  606  :  but,  although  Mohammedism 
arose  in  the  same  year,  it  did  not  immediately  begin  to 
trample  upon  the  Greek  church,  nor  did  it  finally  com- 
plete the  pollution  of  the  eastern  sauctuarif  till  the  cres- 
cent triumphed  over  the  cross  in  the  very  midst  of  Con- 
stantinople. 

Here  we  cannot  but  observe  the  strict  accuracy  of 
expression  used  both  by  Daniel  and  St.  John.  That 
desolating  transgression,  the  religion  of  Mohammed  \^  re- 
presented diS  putting  an  end  to  the  dailij  sacrifice  of  spi- 
ritual praise  and  thanksgiving,  and  as  treading  the  sanc- 
tuarif  itself  under  foot.  But  the  tyrannical  superstition 
of  Popery  is  described  as  only  treading  under  foot  the 
outer  court  of  the  Gentiles  and  the  holij  citij  ;  being  un- 
able to  injure  "  the  temple  or  sanctuary  of  God,  and  the 
altar,  and  them  that  worship  therein."  Such  according- 
ly has  been  the  event.  Although  the  skeleton  of  the 
Greek  church  has  been  suffered  to  exist,  yet  we  hear 
not  of  any  spiritual  worshippers  that  it  has  produced 
since  the  establishment  of  Mohammedism.  Its  sanctua- 
ry has  been  trodden  under  foot,  no  less  than  its  outer 
court ;  and  its  altar  has  ceased  to  send  up  any  grateful 
incense  to  the  God  of  heaven.  Plunged  in  the  same 
superstitious  observances  as  the  Latin  church,  though 
resolutely  denying  its  supremacy,  it  has  not,  like  the 
Latin  church,  retained  within  its  bosom  a  hidden  seed, 
a  chosen  generation,  who,  in  the  midst  of  its  corruptions 
should  still  continue  to  worship  in  the  spiritual  temple, 
and  to  serve  at  the  spiritual  altar.  In  the  western  world 
we  have  never  ceased  to  behold  the  zvitnesses  prophesy- 
ing in  sackcloth  ;  and  zi)e  of  this  kingdom  have  especi- 
ally to  bless  their  pious  labours  for  that  pure  and  apos- 
tolical branch  of  the  Church  established  among  us  :  but 
in  vain  do  we  inquire  for  any  reformation  in  the  eastern 
world ;  no  zvitnesses  there  have  raised  their  warning  voice ; 
the  sanctuary  itself  is  polluted,  and  will  continue  in  that 
deplorable  state  to  the  very  end  oithe  ^260  years.     Still, 

transgression  was  first  set  up  ;  the  pollution  of  the  sanctuary  was  Only  in  an  incipient 
state  :  for  the  first  only  of  that  series  of  events  had  then  taken  place  which  after- 
wards led  to  its  complete  pollution. 


19:3 

at  the  expiration  ot  twelve  centuries,  are  the  Greek 
churches  overwhelmed  with  the  same  vanities  of  super- 
stition and  idolatry  that  pulled  down  the  wrath  of  God 
upon  them.  They  made  no  efibrt  to  purity  themselves  ; 
whence  they  have,  more  or  less,  during  the  greatest  part 
of  that  long  period,  been  harassed  and  oppressed  by 
the  iron  rod  of  Mohammedan  despotism. 

II.  "  The  he-goat  waxed  very  great  :  and,  when  he 
was  strong,  the  great  horn  was  broken  :  and  for  it  came 
up  four  notable  ones  toward  the  four  winds  of  heaven. 
And  out  of  one  of  them  came  forth  a  little  horn,  which, 
waxed  exceeding  great,  toward  the  south,  and  toward 
the  east,  and  toward  the  pleasant  land." 

The  angel  interprets  this  passage  as  follows.  "  The 
rough  goat  is  the  king  of  Grecia  :  and  the  great  horn, 
that  is  between  his  eyes,  is  the  first  king.  Now,  that 
being  broken,  whereas  four  stood  up  for  it,  four  kingdoms 
shall  stand  up  out  of  the  nation,  but  not  in  his  power. 
And,  at  the  end  of  their  kingdom,  when  the  transgress- 
ors are  come  to  the  full,  a  king  of  fierce  countenance, 
and  teaching  dark  sentences,  shall  stand  up." 

1.  The  king^  or  kingdom^  sijmbolized  bij  the  little  horn, 
was  to  stand  up  at  the  end  of  the  four  Greek  kingdoms, 
and  out  of  one  of  them — We  may  here  note  the  different 
manner  in  which  the  two  little  horns  are  introduced. 
The  papal  horn  was  to  arise  among  the  ten  horns  of  the 
Roman  beast^  and  to  be  contemporary  with  them  :  tha 
Mohammedan  horn  was  to  come  out  of  the  ruins  of  one 
of  the  four  Greek  horns  of  the  Macedonian  beast  as 
the ij  four  had  arisen  out  of  the  ruins  of  the  one  great 
imperial  horn-,  and  not  to  be  contemporary  with  any  of 
them,  for  it  was  to  stand  up  at  the  end  of  their  kingdom. 
Such  accordingly  was  the  event.  When  all  the  four 
Greek  kingdoms  had  come  to  their  end,  the  religion  of 
Mohammed  made  its  appearance,  agreeably  to  the  T^xe- 
diction,  in //^e  y^«r  606,  at  the  beginning  oi  the  1260 
years  during  which  it  was  to  flourish  contemporaneously 
with  the  Papacy.  Mecca  was  the  first  theatre  of  its  ac- 
tions :  but,  in  a  very  short  period  of  time  after  its  rise, 
it  invaded  Syria,  and  thus  accomplished   its  prophetic 

VOL.   I.  25 


194 

character  of  being  a   little  hum  of  one  of  the  four  sub- 
■verted  honis  of  the  he-goat.* 

*  The  first  war  between  the  Saracens  and  the  Romans  took  place  in  the  year  62f) 
and  $30  ;  am^  between  the  yeart  632  and  639  the  whole  of  Syria  was  conquered  by 
them.  (H<st.  of  Decline,  Vol.  ix.  p.  312,  379—421.)  Dr.  Zouch,  in  his  work  on 
prophecy,  objects,  tliat  the  little  horn  of  the  he-goat  cannot  be  Mahammed  (Mr.  Whita- 
ker,  whom  he  is  opposing,  ought  rather  to  have  said  Mohammed'nm,  for  a  horn,  in 
the  language  of  symbols,  does  not  mean  an  individual,  but  a  poiverj,  because  that 
impostor  sprung  up  in  Arabia,  which  was  never  subject  to  the  Syrian  horn :  whereas 
the  little  horn  was  to  come  out  of  one  of  the  four  notable  ones  of  the  he-goat.  Hence  he 
prefers  the  interpretation  of  Sir  Isaac  and  Bp.  Newton  ;  and  supposes  with  them, 
that  the  little  horn  is  the  Roman  poiver,  which  first  penetrated  into  the  East  by  way  of 
Macedon,  one  of  the  four  horns  or  kingdoms  of  the  Greek  empire — When  Dr.  Zouch 
made  this  objection,  he  certainly  was  not  aware,  that  it  applies  with  equal  force  to 
his  own  system,  as  to  that  which  supposes  Mohammedism  to  be  the  little  horn.  The 
Roman  poii-.r  sprung  up  no  more  within  the  territories  oi  any  of  the  four  Greek  horns 
at  its  first  rise,  than  the  religion  of  M  hammed.  Consequently,  if  the  one  must  not  be 
esteemed  the  little  horn,  because  it  originated  in  Arabia,  neither  must  the  other,  because 
it  first  arose  in  Italy  :  and,  on  the  contrary,  if  the  one  may  be  esteemed  the  little  horn, 
because  it  became  a  poivsr  ivithin  the  limits  of  the  he-goaC s  empire  by  the  conquest  of 
Macedon  ;  so  likewise  may  the  other  with  equal  propriety,  because  it  became  a poiver 
•w'thin  the  limits  of  the  same  empire  by  the  conquest  of  Syria — The  fact  is,  Dr.  Zouch's 
objection  is  one  of  those,  which,  by  proving  too  much,  prove  nothing.  A  horn,  in  the 
language  of  prophecy,  is  indifferently  said  to  spring  from  the  head  of  a  symbolical  beast 
or  empire,  whether  it  be  one  of  the  kingdoms  into  w^hich  that  empire  has  been  divided 
by  its  own  grandees.  Or  whether  it  be  one  of  the  kingdoms  which  have  been  formed  out 
of  the  empire  in  question  by  the  successful  inroads  of  foreigners.  Tlius  the  ten  Gothic 
kingdoms  of  the  Western  Roman  empire,  although  founded  by  nations  that  did  not  sprint 
out  of  the  empire,  but  on  the  contrary  iwjadcd  it,  are  represented  by  Daniel  as  being 
the  ten  horns  of  the  fourth  beast ;  no  less  than  the  four  Greek  monarchies,  which  literally 
sprung  out  of  the  Macedonian  empire,  are  described  by  him  as  being  the  four  horns  of  the 
he-goat.  Yet,  if  Dr.  Zouch's  objection  be  vahd,  not  one  of  the  ten  Gothic  kingdoms  must 
be  esteemed  a  hom  of  the  fourth  beast ;  because  not  one  of  them,  so  far  as  its  primiti-ve 
origin  is  concerned,  arose  out  of  the  Roman  empire,  any  more  than  either  the  Roman 
tmpire  itself  or  Mohammedism,  whichever  of  these  powers  be  intended  by  the  little 
born  of  the  he-goat,  arose  out  of  the  Greek  empire.  The  1260  days,  must  be  dated  from 
the  time  when  the  saints  were  given  into  the  hand  of  the  papal  horn  or  the  year  606  ; 
consequently  the  rise  of  Mohammedism,  or  the  setting  up  of  the  desolating  transgression, 
must  be  dated  from  the  same  era  :  but  Mohammedism  itself  did  not  become  a  horn  of 
the  he-goaf,  or  a  spiritual  poiver  ivithin  the  limits  of  the  Greek  empire,  till  the  Saracens  in- 
vaded Syria. 

Dr.  Zouch  further  objects  to  the  long  period  of  time,  which  intervened  between  the 
dowT.fall  of  the  four  Greek  kingdoms  and  the  rise  of  Mohammedism  ;  conceiving,  that,  if 
tie  little  horn  had  been  designed  to  symbolize  that  Apostacy,  some  of  the  intermedi- 
ate events  would  have  been  noticed  bv  the  prophet — This  objection  appears  to  me 
very  unreasonable.  Daniel  had  already  recapitulated  the  whole  of  Nebuchadnezzar's 
dream  in  his  vision  of  the  four  beasts,  for  the  evident  purpose  of  introducing  the  little 
horn  of  the  fourth  beast,  which  had  not  been  noticed  in  the  dream  of  the  Babylonian 
prince  :  he  now  recapitulates  the  history  of  the  second  and  third  empires,  for  the  simi- 
lar evident  purpose  of  introducing  the  little  hom  of  the  he-goat  which  answers  to  the 
third  beast  of  the  preceding  '■jiiion.  Had  he  therefore  again  recapitulated  the  conquests 
of  the  Romans,  he  would  not  only  have  introduced  much  superfluous  matter,  but 
would  have  involved  his  whole  prophecy  in  confusion  :  for,  in  that  case,  we  should 
have  been  led  erroneouslv  to  imagine,  that  both  the  little  herns  sprung  out  oi  the  IVest- 
ern  part  of  the  empire  :  instead  of,  what  is  now  abundantly  manifest,  the  one  out  of 

the  Western  part,  and  the  other  out  oi  the   Eastern  part   Or  the  original  body  oi  the  third 

ieast.    Accordingly  we  find,  in  the  fllozving  viiion,  that  Daniel  does  there  actually  re- 


195 

2.  The  horn  was^rst  to  he  small  and  afternmrds  to  he 
great  in  a  southern^  eastern^  and  northern*  direction — 
The  religion  of  Mohammed  was  originally  small  in  the 
number  of  its  proselytes  ;  but  it  soon  waxed  exceeding- 
great,  and  that  in  the  very  line  marked  out  by  the  proph- 
ecy. Its  conquests  extended  southward  ovev  the  penin- 
sula of  Arabia  ;  eastward,  over  Persia  and  in  after  ages  o- 
ver  Hindostan  ;  and  7wrthzaard,  over  Palestine,  Asia  Mi- 
nor, and  Greece.  Some  conquests  it  likewise  made  west- 
zvard ;  but  they  were  neither  so  permanent,  nor  so  con- 
siderable, as  its  other  acquisitions.  Spain  soon  threw  off 
its  tyranny  ;  and  the  piratical  states  of  Barbary  are  not 
worthy  to  be  mentioned  with  the  spiritual  sovereignty  of 
Greece,  Persia,  Syria,  Asia  Minor,  Hindostan,  and  Ara- 
bia. Plence  the  prophet  truly  rernaiks,  that  the  princi- 
pal theatre  of  its  greatness  should  be  the  Norths  the 
SoutJi,  and  the  East.-\ 

capitulate  a  part  of  the  Roman  history,  because  he  wishes  to  conduct  us  to  the  ty- 
rannical reign  of  the  athshtkalking,  who,  like  the  papal  horn,  was  to  arise,  net  in  the  East, 
but  in  the  IVest.  (See  Dan.  xi.  30 — 45.)  In  order  then,  I  conceive,  to  preserve  that 
perspicuity,  which  is  so  necessary  for  the  right  understanding  of  his  prophecies, 
Daniel  here  simply  tells  us,  that  some  time  after  the  downfall  of  the  four  Greek  kbigdomsy 
the  liule  horn  should  make  its  appearance  in  the  late  territories  of  one  of  them.  The 
precise  time  however,  when  the  foiver  which  was  destined  to  become  this  little  born 
should  arise,  he  does  not  mention,  leaving  us  to  collect  it  from  certain  numbers  which 
he  has  given  us.  From  these  numbers  the  time  has  been  collected  ;  and  that  time,  as 
we  have  seen,  is  the  very  year  in  which  Moliammed  commenced  his  imposture. 

Lastly,  Dr.  Zouch  objects,  that  the  king  typifed  by  the  little  horn  was  to  be  a  king  of 
t  fierce  countenance  ;  whereas  Mohammed,  according  to  the  traditions  of  his  com- 
panions, was  distinguished  for  his  commanding  presence,  his  majestic  aspect,  his 
piercing  eye,  his  gracious  smile,  his  countenance  that  painted  every  sensation  of  the 
soul,  and  his  gestures  that  enforced  each  expression  of  the  tongue — To  this  objec- 
tion the  answer  is  sufficiently  obvious.  Daniel  is  not  describing  the  aspect  of  a  man, 
but  the  nature  of  a  religion  :  the  antitype  of  the  little  horn  is  not  an  individual  king,  but 
a  spiritual  kingdom.  And  this  spiritual  kingdom  or  religion  is  to  remain  \260 years,  and 
at  length  to  be  broken  without  hand.  Consequently  it  cannot  be  any  single  individ- 
ual. Whatever  then  the  countenance  of  Mohammed  may  have  been,  his  sanguinary 
superstition,  avowedly  propagated  by  the  sword,  may  with  the  utmost  propriety  be 
described  as  a  kingdom  face  of  countenance.     See  Zouch  on  Prophecy,  Chap.  8. 

*  The  expression  toivard  the  pleasant  land,  when  joined  with  the  preceding  phrase 
toivard  the  South  and  toward  the  East,  and  when  considered  with  a  reference  to  the 
native  countr)'  of  Mohammed,  evidently  means  toivard  the  North.  It  is  a  mode  of 
speech  perfectly  familiar  in  the  Hebrew  language.  Thus,  from  the  relative  posi- 
tion of  the  Mediterranean  sea  to  Palestine,  the  Jews  were  wont  to  express  the  West 
by  the  phrase  to-ward  the  sea. 

f  "  Under  the  last  of  the  Ommiades,  the  Arabian  empire  extended  two  hundred 
days  journey  from  East  to  West,  from  the  confines  of  Tartary  and  India  to  the  shores 
of  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  And,  if  we  retrench  the  sleeve  of  the  robe,  as  it  is  styled  by 
their  writers,  the  long  and  narrow  province  of  Africa,"  (that  is  to  say,  the  petty 
ivistirn  conquests  of  ike  Mabammsdan  religion,  which  were  not  worthy  to  be  mention- 


196- 

3.  The  king  teas  to  ai'ise,  when  the  transgressors  were 
come  to  the  full — The  Christian  churches  beg^an  very 
early  to  degenerate  from  their  primitive  purity,  and  to 
apostatize  in  the  manner  predicted  by  St.  Paul.  The 
Apostacif  however  was  long  confined  to  individuals  ;  nor 
did  the  transgressors  come  to  the  full,  until  it  was  pub- 
licly authorized  and  upheld  by  the  spiritual  head  of  the 
catholic  church.  But  in  the  year  606,  when  the  saints 
were  delivered  into  the  hand  of  the  Papal  horn^  the 
Apostacy  became  an  embodied  system  :  for  immediately 
afterwards  idolatry  was  openly  and  shamelessly  establish- 
ed bj  the  sovereign  pontiff.  Jn  this  year  then,  when  the 
1260  days  commenced,  the  transgressors  came  to  the 
full  :  consequently  in  this  year  we  must  look  for  the  rise 
of  the  king.  Accordingly  the  Mohammedan  apostacy 
commenced  in  the  East,  in  the  self-same  year  that  the 
Pope  was  constituted  Bishop  of  bishops  and  supreme 
head  of  the  Church  in  the  West:  insomuch  that  Dr. 
Prideaux,  struck  with  this  wonderful  chronological  coin- 
dence,  could  not  refrain  from  exclaiming,  "  that  Anti- 
christ seemed  at  that  time  to  have  set  both  his  feet  upon 
Christendom  together,  the  one  in  the  East,  the  other  in 
the  West."* 

4.  The  king  zcas  moreover  to  be  fierce  of  countenance^ 
mid  a  teacher  of  dark  sentences  :  that  is  to  say,  the  little 

ed  along  with  its  empire  in  the  East,  th.-  KTm-tJi,  and  thr  Sonflj,  and  which  are  therefore 
left  unnoticed  by  the  prophet,)  "  the  soUd  and  compact  dominion  from  Fargana  to 
Aden,  from  Tarsus  to  Surat,  will  spread  on  every  side  to  the  measure  of  four  or  five 
months  of  the  march  of  a  caravan."  (Hist,  of  DecHne  and  Fall,  Vol.  ix.  p.  501.)  To 
this  vast  territory,  which  acknowledged  Mohammed  as  the  prophet  of  God,  the 
Turks  afterwards  added  Greece  and  Asia  Minor  in  the  North.  The  progress  of  the 
Saracens,  in  the  very  direction  marked  out  by  the  prophet,  is  even  -verbally  noticed 
by  Mr.  Gibbon.  After  detailing  the  history  of  their  conquest  of  Arabia  in  the  Souths 
he  observes,  "To/i^  North  of  Syria  they  passed  mount  Taurus,  and  reduced  to  their 
obedience  the  province  of  Cilicia  with  its  capital  Tarsus,  the  ancient  monument  of 
the  Assyrian  kings.  Beyond  a  second  ridge  of  the  same  mountains,  they  spread  the 
flame  of  war,  rather  than  the  light  of  religion,  as  far  as  the  shores  of  the  Euxine  and 
the  neighbourhood  of  Constantinople.  To  the  East  they  advanced  to  the  banks  and 
sources  of  the  Eu'ihrates  and  Tigris  :  the  long  disputed  barrier  of  Rome  and  Persia 
was  for  ever  confounded,  the  walls  of  Edessa  and  Amida,  of  Dara  and  Nisibis,  which 
had  resisted  the  arms  and  engines  of  Sapor  or  Nushirvan,  were  levelled  in  the  dust  ; 
and  the  holy  city  of  Abgarus  might  vainly  produce  the  epistle  of  the  image  of  Christ 
to  an  unbelieving  conqueror.  To  the  West  the  Syrian  kingdom  is  bounded  by  the 
sea."  \\\  this  direction  Mr.  Gibbon  notices  only  the  piratical  excursions  of  the  Sara* 
eeni     Hist,  of  Decline,  Vol.  ix.  p.  309,  42;?,  4'J4. 

*  Prideaux's  life  of  Mohammed,  p.  16. 


197 

horn  was  to  be  a  spiritual  power  upheld  by  force  of 
arms  ;  it  was  to  be  a  religion,  not  mild  and  gentle  like 
that  of  the  Lamb,  but  partaking  of  the  fierce  and  unre- 
lenting nature  of  the  dragon — The  word,  which  is  here 
rendered  dm-k  sentences,  primarily  means  enigmas  :  and, 
as  the  oriental  enigmas  were  usually  couched  in  sublime 
and  poetical  language,  it  is  used  in  Scripture  to  express 
the  sublime  spiritual  enigmas  or  mysteries  of  religion. 
Thus  the  Psalmist,  when  about  to  treat  of  the  deep  mys- 
teries of  redemption,  and  the  wonders  of  the  resurrection^ 
summons  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  world  to  give  him 
their  earnest  attention.  "  My  mouth,"  saith  he,  "shall 
speak  of  wisdom  ;  and  the  meditation  of  my  heart  shall 
be  of  understanding.  I  will  incline  mine  ear  to  a  para- 
ble :  I  will  open  my  dark  sentence  upon  the  harp."* 
The  dark  sentences  then,  or  spiritual  enigmas,  taught  by 
the  little  horn,  are  manifestly  that  pretended  revelation  of 
Mohammed,  the  Koran  ;  a  work  written  in  a  kindred 
language  to  that  of  the  Jewish  Scriptures,  and  replete 
with  those  poetically  metaphorical  turns  of  expression 
so  peculiarly  grateful  to  an  oriental  ear.  "The  sub- 
stance of  the  Koran,  according  to  Mohammed  or  his  dis- 
ciples, is  uncreated  and  eternal  ;  subsisting  in  the  essence 
of  the  Deity,  and  inscribed  with  a  pen  of  light  on  the 
table  of  his  everlasting  decrees — In  the  spirit  of  enthusi- 
asm or  vanity,  the  prophet  rests  the  truth  of  his  mission 
on  the  merit  of  his  book  ;  audaciously  challenges  both 
men  and  angels  to  imitate  the  beauties  of  a  single  page  ; 
and  presumes  to  assert,  that  God  alone  could  dictate 
this  incomparable  performance.  This  argument  is  most 
powerfully  addressed  to  a  devout  Arabian,  whose  mind 
is  attuned  to  faith  and  rapture,  whose  ear  is  delighted  by 
the  music  of  sounds,  and  whose  ignorance  is  incapable 
of  comparing  the  productions  of  human  genius.  The 
harmony  and  copiousness  of  style  will  not  reach,  in  a 
version,  the  European  infidel  :  he  will  peruse  with  im- 
patience the  endless  incoherent  rhapsody  of  fable,  and 
precept,  and  declamation  ;  which  seldom  excites  a  sen- 
timent or  an  idea,   which  sometimes  crawls  in  the  dust, 

•  Psalm  xlix,  3, 4. 


1^8 

and  is  sometimes  lost  in  the  clouds.  The  divine  attri- 
butes exalt  the  fancy  of  the  Arabian  missionary  ;  but  his 
loftiest  strains  must  yield  to  the  subhme  simpHcity  of 
the  book  of  Job,  composed  in  a  remote  age,  in  the  same 
country,  and  in  the  same  language."*  Such  are  the  dark 
sentences  of  the  Koran  ;  and  the  religion,  which  it  incul- 
cates, may  well  be  described  as  "  fierce  of  countenance," 
when  the  avowed  maxim  of  its  founder  was  to  use  no 
other  engine  of  conversion  than  the  sword. 

111.  "  And  it  waxed  great  even  against  the  host  of 
heaven  ;  and  it  cast  some  of  the  host  and  of  the  stars  to 
the  ground,  and  stamped  upon  them.  Yea,  it  magnified 
itself  even  against  the  prince  of  the  host ;  and  by  it  the 
daily  sacrifice  was  taken  away,  and  the  place  of  his  (the 
prince's)  sanctuary  was  cast  down.  And  the  host  was 
given  up  unto  it  by  reason  of  transgression  against  the 
daily  sacrifice  ;  and  it  cast  down  the  truth  to  the  ground  ; 
and  it  practised  and  prospered.'* 

Of  this  passage  the  following  explanation  is  given  by 
the  angel.  "  And  the  power  of  the  king  shall  be  mighty, 
but  not  by  his  own  power :  and  he  shall  destroy  wonder- 
fully, and  shall  prosper,  and  practise,  and  shall  destroy 
the  mighty  and  the  people  of  the  holy  Ones.  And 
through  his  policy  also  he  shall  cause  craft  to  prosper  in 
his  hand  ;  and  he  shall  magnify  himself  in  his  heart ;  and 
he  shall  destroy  many  while  in  negligent  security  :  he 
shall  also  stand  up  against  the  prince  of  princes  ;  but  he 
shall  be  broken  without  hand." 

1  .•  The  little  horn  was  to  cast  the  stars  of  heaven  to  the 
ground,  and  stamp  upon  them — The  religion  of  Moham- 
med has  professedly  set  itself  up  against  the  symholical 
host  and  stars  of  heaven,  or  the  bishops  and  pastors  of  the 
Christian  Church;  numbers  of  whom  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  empire  it  cast  down  to  the  ground,  compelling 
them  either  to  apostatize,  or  stamping  them  as  it  were 
under  its  feet  with  all  the  fury  of  brutal  fanaticism. 

2.  The  little  horn  i(Das  to  magnify  itself  against  the 
prince  of  the  host,  and  to  cast  down  the  truth  to  the 
grou7id — Accordingly  Mohammedism  did  openly  magnify 

'   Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol  ix.  p.  267,  268,  269. 


199 

its  founder  against  tlie  divine  author  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion. The  impostor  allowed  Jesus  the  Son  of  Mary  to 
be  a  prophet  ;  but  he  maintained  that  he  himself  was  a 
greater  prophet,  and  that  the  Koran  was  destined  to  su- 
persede the  Gospel.  He  taught  his  infatuated  disciples, 
that  "  the  piety  of  Moses  and  of  Christ  rejoiced  in  the 
assurance  of  a  future  prophet,  more  illustrious  than  them- 
selves :  and  that  the  evangelic  promise  of  the  Paraclete 
or  Holy  Ghost,  was  prefigured  in  the  name,  and  accom- 
plished in  the  person  of  Mohammed,  the  greatest  and 
last  .of  the  Apostles  of  God."*  Thus  destroying  the 
mighty  hosts  of  the  rival  nations  of  Rome  and  Persia, 
murdering  and  harassing  the  now  degenerate  people  of 
the  Holy  Ones,  taking  away  the  daily  sacrifice  of  prayer 
and  praise,  polluting  the  spiritual  sanctuary, f  and  mag- 
nifying itself  even  against  the  prince  of  princes,  the  little 
horn  of  Mohammedism  cast  down  the  truth  to  the  ground, 
and  waxed  exceeding  great. 

3.  The  strength  of  the  little  horn  was  to  be  mighty,  but 
not  bij  its  own  strength — The  power,  here  spoken  of,  be- 
ing a  spiritual  one,  its  strength  will  mean  that  command- 
ing influence  which  religion  exerts  over  the  soul  of  man. 
Thus  the  mighty  efficacy  of  the  Gospel  is  described  by 
the  Apostle  as  "  quick,  and  powerful,  and  sharper  than 
any  two-edged  sword,  piercing  even  to  the  dividing  asun- 
der of  soul  and  spirit,  and  of  the  joints  and  marrow,  and 

•  Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  ii.  p.  267. 
f  Mr.  Kelt,  although  he  supposes  the  little  horn  to  relate  in  part  to  MohammedUjn, 
very  inconsistently  takes  the  sanctuary  in  a  literal  sense ;  and  thence  argues,  that 
«  Jerusalem  is  designated  as  the  principal  scene  or  object  of  the  tyranny  of  this  horn" 
He  is  led  into  this  error  by  his  system  of  double  interpretations  of  the  same  prophecy  .• 
for  he  adds,  "  first,  during  the  Jewish,  and  lastly  during  the  Christian  dispensation." 
The  little  horn  therefore,  according  to  his  system,  first  polluted  the  sanctuary  in  the 
days  of  Antiochus  ,  secondly,  in  the  time  of  the  Romans ;  thirdly,  under  Mohammed; 
and  lastly  -ivill  pollute  it  by  the  arms  of  professed  inf  dels— Now,  though  the  lifer<^ 
sanctuary  was  polluted  by  Antiochus  and  the  Romans,  (neither  of  whom  by  the  way 
can  have  the  slightest  connection  with  the  little  horn)  it  certainly  was  not  by  Moham- 
med ;  and  for  this  very  substantial  reason  ;  in  his  days  it  was  no  longer  in  existence 
— As  for  Jerusalem,  it  was  no  more  the  principal  scene  of  Mohammedan  triumph;, 
than  Persia,  Greece,  Arabia,  or  Egypt  :  nor  has  the  sanctuary,  which  was  to  be  pollut- 
ed by  the  little  horn,  any  reference  whatsoever  to  the  temple— (See  Hist,  the  Interp. 
Vol.  I.  p.  350,351,  359.)  The  infidel po-wer,  ox  Antichrist  will  indeed  plant  the  cur- 
tams  of  his  pavilions  between  the  seas  in  the  glorious  holy  mountain,  at  the  era  of  the 
restoration  of  the  Jeivs  :  but  this  exploit  is  certainly  not  foretold  in  the  present  pro. 
I>hecy,  which  treats  of  quite  c  di_fa-;r.t ps-wsr. 


§00 

is  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart."* 
The  Gospel  accordingly,  when  preached  to  the  heathen 
world,  shewed  by  its  successful  progress,  that  it  was  not 
only  mighty,  but  mighty  by  its  own  divine  strength.  It 
required  not  the  assistance  of  the  temporal  arm  ;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  prevailed  over  all  the  persecutions  that 
could  be  raised  against  it.  Hence  its  illustrious  founder 
is  prophetically  addressed  by  the  Psalmist,  "  Gird  thy 
sword  upon  thy  thigh,  O  most  mightij^  with  thy  glory 
and  thy  majesty.  x\nd  in  thy  majesty  ride  prosperously 
because  of  truth  and  meekness  and  righteousness  ;  and 
thy  right  hand  shall  teach  thee  terrible  things. "•!•  And 
hence  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  the  primitive  ages 
is  described  by  St,  John  in  the  same  sublime  strain  of  al- 
legory :  "  And  1  saw,  and,  behold,  a  white  horse  :  and  he 
that  sat  on  him  had  a  bow  ;  and  a  crown  was  given  unto 
him  :  and  he  went  forth  conquering  and  to  conquer. ":|: 
But  Mohammedism ^  strong  as  it  afterwards  became,  and 
great  as  was  the  influence  which  it  possessed  over  the 
minds  of  its  votaries,  was  not  mighty  by  its  own  natural 
strength.  It  avowedly  relied,  not  upon  the  still  small 
voice  of  reason  and  argument,  and  evidence  ;  not  upon 
the  louder  claims  of  miracles,  which  could  neither  be 
denied,  nor  accounted  for  on  physical  principles  ;  not 
upon  its  own  intrinsic  worth  and  purity,  its  own  divine 
unassisted  strength  :  but  upon  the  enthusiastic  valour  of 
its  adherents,  the  strength  of  the  Saracenic  sword.  Ten 
years  Mohammed  persevered  in  the  exercise  of  his  mis- 

«  Heb.  ir.  12.  f  Psalm  xlv.  3,  4, 

I  Rev.  vi.  2.  I  cannot  but  wonder,  how  Bp.  Newton  could  think  of  applying  this 
symbolical  description  to  the  conquests  of  the  Flavian  family.  In  order  that  the  prophe- 
cies of  St.  John  mav  be  consistent  with  themselves,  the  rider  upon  the  ivhite  horse,  men- 
tioned in  this  passage,  must  be  the  same  as  the  rider  upon  the  ivhite  horse  celebrated  in 
the  ninteenth  chapter  of  the  Apocalypse,  who  is  there  declared  to  be  the  personal 
fVord  of  God.  Bp.  Newton  objects,  that  no  good  reason  can  be  given  for  representing 
the  Church  in  triumph  and  glor)',  at  a  period  when  she  was  most  grievously  perse- 
cuted and  afllicted.  But  this  objection  cannot  be  esteemed  of  any  weight,  when  we 
consider,  that  the  victories  of  the  Church,  being  purely  of  a  spiritual  nature,  have 
been  usually  the  greatest,  when  her  temporal  estate  has  been  the  most  depressed. 
Accordingly,  when  the  Church  was  established  by  Constantine  in  great  temporal 
prosperity,  the  Spirit  of  God  sets  so  light  by  this  outivardly  glorious  event,  that  it 
represents  it  as  "  holpen  with  only  a  little  help  ;"  (Dan.  xi.  34.)  because,  as  Bp.  New- 
ton himself  observes,  **  though  it  added  much  to  the  temporal  prosperity,  yet  it  con- 
tributed little  to  the  j-/';V/V«a/ graces  and  virtues,  of  Christians."  Mr.  Mede  justly 
supposes  the  rider  upon  thi  -n-hiti  hor;:  to  mean  the  Messiah.     Com.  Apoc.  in  Si^il.I, 


!201 

sioH,  depending  upon  the  strength  of  his  religion  alone; 
and  during  that  period,  the  superstition,  which  has  since 
overspread  the  eastern  world,   "  advanced  with  a  slow 
and  painful  progress  only  within  the  walls  of  Mecca,"  for 
as  yet  the  pseudo-prophet  "  disclaimed  the  use  of  reli- 
gious violence  :"*  in  one  day  three  thousand  were  added 
to  the  Church  by  a  single  sermon  of  St.  Peter ;  and  in 
ten  years  after  the  passion  of  the  Messiah,  Christianity 
had  been  planted  in  Samaria,-]*  Phenicia,  Cyprus,  Anti- 
och,^  and  Ethiopia, §  exclusive  of  Judea  and  Galilee. f| 
Mohammed,  finding  that  he  was  likely  to  make  but  lit- 
tle progress  if  he  relied  upon  nothing  but  the  strength  of 
his  cause,  after  he  had  made  himself  prince  of  Medina, 
*'  assumed  in  his  new  revelations,  a  fiercer  and  more 
sanguinary  tone,   which  proves  that  his  former  modera- 
tion was  the  eifect  of  weakness.   The  means  of  persuasion 
had  been  tried,  the  season   of  forbearance  was  elapsed, 
and  he  was  now  commanded  to  propagate  his  religion 
by  the  sword,  to  destroy  the  monuments  of  idolatry,  and, 
without  regarding  the  sanctity  of  days  or  months,  to  pur- 
sue the  unbelieving  nations  of  the   earth — In   the   first 
months  of  his  reign,  he  practised  the  lessons  of  holy  war- 
fare, and  displayed  his  white  banner  before  the  gates  of 
Medina :  the  martial  apostle   fought  in  person   at   nine 
battles  or  sieges ;  and  fifty  enterprizes  of  war  were  a- 
chieved  in   ten  years   by  himself  or   his  lieutenants/' 
Hence  we  may  satisfactorily  account  for  the  greater  ra- 
pidity with  which  his  religion  spread  during  these  ^e-coyz^/ 
ten  years,  than  during  the  former  ten   years   when  he 
confined   himself  merely  to   preaching.     "  The  sword," 
said  he  to  his  intrepid  followers,  "  is  the  key  of  heaven 
and  of  hell :  a  drop  of  blood  shed  in  the  cause  of  God, 
a  night  spent  in  arms,  is  of  more  avail  than  two  months 
of  fasting  and  prayer:  whosoever  falls  in  battle,  his  sins 
are  forgiven  :  at  the  day  of  judgment   his  wounds  shall 
be  resplendent  as  vermilion   and  odoriferous  as  musk  : 
and  the  loss  of  his  limbs  shall  be  supplied  by  the  wings 
of  angels  and  cherubim."^  Thus  was  the  power  qS.  Mo- 

*  Hist,  of  Decl.  and  Fall,  Vol.  ix.  p.  285,  286.  f  Acts  viii.  5. 

:J  Acts  x'i.  19— Acts  ilii.  §  Acts  viii.  27.  ||   Acts  ix.  31. 

^  Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol  ix.  p.  294,  295,  296,  297. 
VOL.  1.  '-2^ 


202 

hammedism  mighty,  but  not  like  the  Gospel,  by  its  own 
power  :  thus  did  it  destroy  wonderfully,  and  prosper,  and 
]^ractise.* 

4.  Another  mark  of  the  poKer^  sijmholized  hij  the  little 
horn^  is,  that  "  through  his  policy  he  shall  cause  craft  to 
prosper  in  the  land  :^'  whence  we  must  conclude,  that 
the  power,  thus  symbolized,  was  to  be  no  less  crafty  than 
warlike — Let  us  hear  the  voice  of  history.  "  In  the  ex- 
ercise of  political  government,  jNIohammed  was  compell- 
ed to  abate  of  the  stern  rigour  of  fanaticism,  to  comply 
in  some  measure  with  the  prejudices  and  passions  of  his 
followers,  and  to  employ  even  the  vices  of  mankind  as 
the  instruments  of  their  salvation,  llie  use  of  fraud  and 
per/idif,  o^  cruehy  and  injustice,  icere  often  subservient  to 
the  propagation  of  the  faith  ;  and  Mohammed  command- 
ed or  approved  the  assassination  of  the  Jews  and  idola- 
ters who  had  escaped  from  the  field  of  battle.  Bij  the 
repetition  of  such  acts,  the  character  of  Mohammed  must 
have  been  gradually  stained,  and  the  influence  of  such 
pernicious  habits  would  be  poorly  compensated  by  the 
practice  of  the  personal  and  social  virtues  vi'hich  are  ne- 
cessary to  maintain  the  reputation  of  a  prophet  among 
his  sectaries  and  friends.  Of  his  last  years  ambition  was 
the  ruling  passion  :  and  a  politician  will  suspect,  that  he 

*  I  prefer  this  interpretntion  of  the  passage, "  his  power  shall  be  mighty,  but 
not  by  his  own  power,"  to  that  adopted  by  Mr.  Kett.  "  As  the  kingdoms  of  the 
West,"  says  he,  "  gave  their  power  to  the  beast,  or  the  papal  Antichrist,  so  have  the 
kingdoms  of  the  East  given  theirs  to  the  Mohammedan  Antichrist.  But  I  conceive 
this  is  not  all  that  is  here  meant.  The  dragon  gave  his  power  to  the  beast,  and  thr 
angel  of  the  botfomh'ss  pit  \e^  on.  the  Saracenic  locusts  ;  and  thus  the  angel  may  be  un- 
derstood to  say,  The  power  of  this  horn  shall  be  not  merely  that  which  is  common 
to  the  conquerors  of  the  East,  such  as  the  he-goat  or  four  beasts  in  the  former  vision  ; 
it  is  to  be  directed  and  supported  by  super-human  art  and  strength  ;  which  shall 
enable  it  to  destroy  wonderfully,  to  prosper  and  practise."  (Hist,  the  Int.  Vol.  1 
p.  356,  35~.)  The  angel  of  the  bottomless  pit,  who  was  the  ting  of  the  Saracenic  lo- 
custs, is  not,  as  Mr.  Kett  supposes,  the  de-jil,  but  the  prophet  himself;  whose  descrip- 
tive name  Apollyon,  or  the  destroyer,  as  Bp.  Newton  justly  observes,  "  agrees  perfectly 
well  with  Mohammed  and  the  caliphs  his  successors,  who  were  the  authors  of  all 
those  horrid  wars  and  desolations,  and  who  openlv  taught  and  professed  that  their 
religion  was  to  be  propagated  and  established  by  the  sword."  The  exact  coinci- 
dence even  of  expression  between  Daniel  and  St.  John  is  well  worthy  of  our  notice. 
Daniel  describes  the  poii-er  represented  by  the  little  horn  as  destroying  wonderfully,  as 
destroying  the  niighty  and  the  people  of  the  Holy  Ones,  as  destroying  many  in  neg- 
ligent security  :  St.  Jolm  styles  the  author  of  Mohammedism  ApoHyon  or  a  destroyer. 
Mr.  Kett  does  elsewhere  justly  consider  Apollyon  to  be  a  descriptive  name  of  Mo- 
hammed and  his  successors  (VoL  IL  p.  72, 73, 74)  ;  which  renders  his  former  mistake 
the  more  singular. 


203 

secretly  smiled  (the  victorious  impostor  !)  at  the  enthu- 
siasm of  his  youth  and  the  creduhty  of"  his  proselytes. — > 
In  the  support  of  truth  the  arts  of  fraud  and  fiction  may 
be  deemed  less  criminal ;  and  he  would  have  started  at 
the  foulness  of  the  means^  had  he  not  been  satisfied  of 
the  importance  and  justice  of  the  end."*  Such  is  the 
unwilling  confession  even  of  his  apologist  Mr.  Gibbon  : 
nor  was  perfidy  the  exclusive  characteristic  of  Moham- 
med alone  :  his  example  in  this  respect  has  been  but 
too  faithfully  copied  by  his  numerous  votaries.  "  It  is 
scarcely  credible  how  far  the  littleness  of  pride  is  carried 
by  the  Porte,  in  all  their  transactions  with  the  Christian 
princes.  To  support  their  faith,  and  to  extend  their  em- 
pire, are  the  only  law  of  nations  which  they  acknowl- 
edge. Their  treaties  amount  only  to  a  temporary  remis- 
sion of  that  implacable  enmity,  with  which  their  religion 
inspires  them  against  every  thing  not  Mohammedan. 
They  consider  the  most  solemn  treaties  in  the  light  of  a 
truce,  which  they  are  at  libetty  to  break,  whenever  they 
can  more  effectually  serve  the  cause  of  Mohammed.  In 
this  they  are  much  assisted  by  the  nature  of  the  Arabic 
language,  which  they  mix  with  the  Turkish  in  their  pub- 
lic acts,  and  which,  by  the  various  application  of  its  terms, 
literal  and  metaphorical,  enables  them  to  give  whatever 
interpretation  they  please,  to  the  contract. "-j-  "  In  a 
word,  lust,  arrogance,  covetousness,  and  the  most  exqui- 
site hypocrisy,  complete  their  character."+ 

6.  Another  characteristic^  zvhich  the  angel  gives  us  of 
the  little  horn^  is^  that  "  he  should  destroif  many  zohile  in 
a  state  of  negligent  securitf — This  peculiarity  is  remark- 
ably exemplified  in  the  whole  progress  of  the  Saracenic 
arms.  "  The  birth  of  Mohammed  was  fortunately  plac- 
ed in  the  most  degenerate  and  disorderly  period  of  the 
Persians,  the  Romans,  and  the  Barbarians  of  Europe  :§ 
the  empires  of  Trajan,  or  even  of  Constantine,  or  Char- 

*  Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  ix.  p.  322,  323. 

f  Eton's  Survey  of  Turkish  Empire,  p.  106.  cited  by  Kett. 

f  Maundrell's  Travels,  p.  149.  cited  by  Kelt. 

§  This  declaration  of  Mr.  Gibbon  affords  another  proof,  that  the  foiver  symbolized 

by  the  Mohammedan  little  horn  arose  ivhen  the  transgressors  ivere  come  to    the  full,  though 

I  conceive  the  ommencepier.t  of  thi  1 260  days   to    be  feculiarh   alluded  to  by  thflt  eXr 


204 

lemagne,  would  have  repelled  the  assault  of  the  naked 
Saracens  ;  and  the  torrent  of  fanaticism  might  have  been 
obscurely  lost  in  the  sands  of  Arabia.  In  the  victorious 
days  of  the  Roman  republic,  it  had  been  the  aim  of  the 
senate  to  confine  their  consuls  and  legions  to  a  single 
war,  and  completely  to  suppress  a  first  enemy  before  they 
provoked  the  hostilities  of  a  second.  These  timid  max- 
ims of  policy  were  disdained  by  the  magnanimity  or  en- 
thusiasm of  the  Arabian  caliphs.  With  the  same  vigour 
and  success  they  invaded  the  successors  of  Augustus, 
and  those  of  Artaxerxes ;  and  the  rival  monarchies  at 
the  same  instant  became  the  prey  of  an  enemy,  whom  they 
had  been  so  long  accustomed  to  despise.^'* 

Let  us  first  observe  the  effects  of  this  fatal  and  pre- 
sumptuous security  in  the  case  of  Persia.  The  battle 
of  Cadesia  determined  the  fate  of  that  empire.  Three 
days  did  the  encounter  continue.  On  the  last  morning, 
*'  the  clangor  of  arms  was  re-echoed  to  the  tent  of  Rus- 
tam,  who,  far  unlike  the  ancient  hero  of  his  name,  was 

fently  reclining  in  a  cool  and  trajiquil  shade,  amidst  the 
aggage  of  his  camp,  and  the  train  of  mules  that  were 
laden  with  gold  and  silver.  On  the  sound  of  danger,  he 
started  from  his  couch  ;  but  his  flight  was  overtaken  by 
a  valiant  Arab,  who  caught  him  by  thp  foot,  struck  off 
his  head,  hoisted  it  on  a  lance,  and  instantly  returning 
to  the  field  of  battle,  carried  slaughter  and  dismay  among 
the  thickest  ranks  of  the  Persians— After  the  defeat  of 
Cadesia,  a  country  intersected  by  rivers  and  canals  might 
have  opposed  an  insuperable  barrier  to  the  victorious 
cavalry  ;  and  the  walls  of  Ctesiphon  or  Madayn,  which 
had  resisted  the  battering  rams  of  the  Romans,  would 
Jiot  have  yielded  to  the  darts  of  the  Saracens.  But  the 
flying  Persians  were  overcome  by  the  belief,  that  the 
last  day  of  their  religion  and  empire  was  at  hand  ;  the 
strongest  posts  were  abandoned  by  treachery  or  coward- 
ice ;  and  the  king,  with  a  part  of  his  family  and  treas- 
ures, escaped  to  Jlolwan  at  the  foot  of  the  Median  hills. 
In  the  third  month  after  the  battle,  Said,  the  lieutenant 
of  Omar,  passed  the  Tigris  without  opposition  ;  the  cap- 

;  I^ist.  pf  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  ix,  \\  3G0,  S6L 


205 

ital  was  taken  by  assault  ;  and  the  disorderly  resistance 
of  the  people  gave  a  keener  edge  to  the  sabres  of  the- 
Moslems."* 

Let  us  next  consider  the  effects  of  the  same  impolitic- 
security  in  the  case  oi  the  rival  empire  of  Constantinople, 
"  About  four  years  after  the  triumphs  of  the  Persian 
war,f  the  repose  of  He  radius  and  the  empire  was  again 
disturbed  by  a  new  enemy,  the  power  of  whose  religion 
was  more  strongly  felt  than  it  was  clearly  understood  by 
the  Christians  of  the  East.  In  his  palace  of  Constanti- 
nople or  Antioch  he  was  azvakcnedhy  the  invasion  of  Syria, 
the  loss  of  Bosra,  and  the  danger  of  Damascus.  An  ar- 
my of  seventy  thousand  veterans,  or  new  levies,  was  as- 
sembled at  Hems,  or  Hemesa,  under  the  command  of 
his  general  Werdan — During  two  successive  engage- 
ments the  temperate  firmness  of  Caled  sustained  the 
darts  of  the  enemy,  and  the  murmurs  of  his  troops.  At 
length,  when  the  spirits  and  quivers  of  the  adverse  line 
were  almost  exhausted,  Caled  gave  the  signal  of  onset 
and  victory.  The  remains  of  the  Imperial  army  fled  to 
Antioch,  or  Cesarea,  or  Damascus  ;  and  the  death  of  four 
hundred  and  fifty  Moslems  was  compensated  by  the  opin- 
ion that  they  had  sent  to  hell  above  fifty  thousand  of  the 
infidels.".]: — "  In  the  life  of  Heraclius,  the  glories  of  the 
Persian  war  are  clouded  on  either  hand  by  the  disgrace 
and  weakness  of  his  more  early  and  his  later  days.  When 
the  successors  of  Mohammed  unsheathed  the  sword  of 
war  and  religion,  he  zvas  astonished  at  the  boundless  pros- 
jiect  of  toil  and  danger  :  his  nature  zvas  indolent^  nor 
could  the  infirm  and  frigid  age  of  the  emperor  he  kind' 
led  to  a  second  effort.  The  sense  of  shame,  and  the  im- 
portunities of  the  Syrians,  prevented  his  hasty  departure 
from  the  scene  of  action  ;  but  the  hero  was  no  more  ; 
and  the  loss  of  Damascus  and  Jerusalem,  the  bloody 
fields  of  Aiznadin  and  Yermuk,  may  be  imputed  in  some 
degree  to  the  absence  or  misconduct  of  the  sovereign."§ 

Most  of  the  smaller  conquests  of  the  SatYtcens  were,  in 
-a  similar   manner,  achieved  by  surprise.     "  From   his 

*  Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  ix.  p.  367,  368,  369. 

f  Namely,  the  triumphs  of  Heraclius  over  Chosroes. 

t  Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  p.  388,  3S0,  391 ,_  §  Ibid,  p.  418, 


906 

camp  in  Palestine,  Amrou  had  surprised  or  anticipated 
the  caliph's  leave  for  the  invasion  of  Egypt.  The  mag- 
nanimous Omar  trusted  in  his  God  and  his  sword,  which 
had  shaken  the  thrones  of  Chosroes  and  Cesar ;  but, 
when  he  compared  the  slender  force  of  the  Moslems 
with  the  greatness  of  the  enterprise,  he  condemned  his 
ovtn  rashness,  and  listened  to  his  timid  companions. 
The  pride  and  the  greatness  of  Pharaoh  were  familiar  to 
the  readers  of  the  Koran  ;  and  a  tenfold  repetition  of 
prodigies  had  been  scarcely  sufficient  to  effect,  not  the 
victory,  but  the  flight,  of  six  hundred  thousand  of  the 
Children  of  Israel :  the  cities  of  Egypt  were  many  and 
populous  ;  their  architecture  was  strong  and  solid  ;  the 
Nile,  with  its  numerous  branches,  was  alone  an  insuper- 
able barrier;  and  the  granary  of  the  imperial  city  would 
be  obstinately  defended  by  the  Roman  powers.  In  this 
perplexity,  the  commander  of  the  faithful  resigned  him- 
self to  the  decision  of  chance,  or,  in  his  opinion,  of 
providence.  At  the  head  of  only  four  thousand  Arabs, 
the  intrepid  Amrou  had  marched  away  from  his  station 
of  Gaza,  when  he  was  overtaken  by  the  messenger  of 
Omar.  If  you  are  still  in  Syria^  said  the  ambiguous 
mandate,  retreat  without  delay  ;  hut  if  at  the  receipt  of 
this  epistle^  you  have  already  reached  the  frontiers  of  K- 
gypt,  advance  with  coiifidetice^  and  depend  on  the  succour 
of  God  and  of  your  brethren.  The  experience,  perhaps 
the  secret  intelligence,  of  Amrou  had  taught  him  to  sus- 
pect the  mutability  of  courts  ;  and  he  continued  his 
march  till  his  tents  were  unquestionably  pitched  on  E- 
gyptian  ground.  He  there  assembled  his  officers,  broke 
the  seal,  perused  the  epistle,  gravely  inquired  the  name 
and  situation  of  the  place,  and  declared  his  ready  obedi- 
ence to  the  commands  of  the  caliph.  After  a  siege  of 
thirty  days,  he  took  possession  of  Farmah  or  Pelusium  ; 
and  that  key  of  Egypt,  as  it  has  been  justly  named,  un- 
locked the  entrance  of  the  country,  as  far  as  the  ruins  of 
Heliopoiis  and  the  neighbourhood  of  the  modern  Cairo."* 
The  conquest  of  the  African  province  soon  followed 
that  of  Egypt.    "  At  the  head  of  forty  thousand  Mos- 

"   Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fal!,  Vol.  ix  p.  4^7,  428,  429. 


S07 

lems,  Abdallah  advanced  from  Egypt  into  tile  unknown 
countries  of  the  West.  The  sands  of  Barca  might  be 
impervious  to  a  Roman  legion  :  but  the  Arabs  were  at- 
tended by  their  faithful  camels  ;  and  the  natives  of  the 
desert  beheld  without  terror  the  familiar  aspect  of  the 
soil  and  climate.  After  a  painful  march,  they  pitched 
their  tents  before  the  walls  of  Tripoli,  a  maritime  city, 
in  which  the  name,  the  wealth,  and  the  inhabitants,  of 
the  province  had  gradually  centered,  and  which  now 
maintains  the  third  rank  among  the  states  of  Barbary. 
A  reinforcement  of  Greeks  was  sinyrised  and  cut  in  pie- 
ces on  the  sea-shore  :  but  the  fortifications  of  Tripoli  re- 
sisted the  first  assaults  ;  and  the  Saracens  were  tempted 
by  the  approach  of  the  prefect  Gregory  to  relinquish  the 
labours  of  the  siege  for  the  perils  and  the  hopes  of  a  de- 
cisive action — To  the  courage  and  discretion  of  Zobeir 
the  lieutenant  of  the  caliph  entrusted  the  execution  of 
bis  own  stratagem,  which  inclined  the  long-disputed  bal- 
ance in  favour  of  the  Saracens.  Supplying  by  activity 
and  artifice  the  deficiency  of  numbers,  a  part  of  their  for- 
ces lay  concealed  in  their  tents,  while  the  remainder  pro- 
longed an  irregular  skirmish  with  the  enemy,  till  the  sun 
was  high  in  the  heavens.  On  both  sides  they  retired 
with  fainting  steps  :  their  horses  were  unbridled,  their 
armour  was  laid  aside,  and  the  hostile  nations  prepared, 
or  seemed  to  prepare,  for  the  refreshment  of  the  evening, 
and  the  encounter  of  the  ensuing  day.  On  a  sudden, 
the  charge  was  sounded  ;  the  Arabian  camp  poured  forth 
a  swarm  of  fresh  and  intrepid  warriors  ;  and  the  long 
line  of  the  Greeks  and  Africans  was  surprised,  assaulted, 
overturned,  by  new  squadrons  of  the  faithful,  who,  to 
the  eye  of  fanaticism,  might  appear  as  a  band  of  angels 
descending  from  the  sky — After  the  fall  of  this  opulent 
city,  the  provincials  and  barbarians  implored  on  all  sides 
the  mercy  of  the  conqueror — The  western  conquests  of 
the  Saracens  v^-ere  suspended  near  twenty  years,  till  their 
dissensions  were  composed  by  the  establishment  of  the 
house  of  Ommiyah — The  first  lieutenant  of  Moawiyah 
acquired  a  just  renown,  subdued  an  important  city,  de- 
feated an  army  of  thirty  thousand  Greeks,  swept  away 
fourscore  thousand  captives,   and  enriched  with  their 


spoils  the  bold  adventurers  of  Syria  and  Egypt.  iBut  the 
title  of  conqueror  of  Africa  is  more  justly  due  to  his  suc- 
cessor Akbah — The  fearless  Akbah  plunged  into  the 
heart  of  the  country,  traversed  the  wilderness  in  which 
his  successors  erected  the  splendid  capitals  of  Fez  and 
Morocco,  and  at  length  penetrated  to  the  verge  of  the 
Atlantic  and  the  great  desert.  The  river  Sus  descends 
from  the  western  sides  of  mount  Atlas  ;  fertilizes,  like 
the  Nile,  the  adjacent  soil  ;  and  falls  into  the  sea  at  a 
moderate  distance  from  the  Canary  or  Fortunate  islands. 
Its  banks  were  inhabited  by  the  last  of  the  Moors,  a  race 
of  savages,  without  laws,  or  discipline,  or  religion  :  theif 
were  astonished  by  the  strange  and  irresistible  terrors  of 
the  Oriental  arms  :  and,  as  they  possessed  neither  gold 
nor  silver,  the  richest  spoil  was  the  beauty  of  the  female 
captives,  some  of  whom  were  afterwards  sold  for  a  thou- 
sand pieces  of  gold."* 

The  same  fatality  attended  the  Gothic  Jcingdom  of 
Spain  :  like  most  of  the  other  conquests  of  the  Saracens, 
it  fell  into  their  hands  by  indulging  in  the  hollow  secu- 
rity of  peaceful  carelessness.  The  perfidious  count  Ju- 
lian "  revealed,  in  his  epistles,  or  in  a  personal  interview 
with  the  Arab  general  Musa,  the  wealth  and  nakedness 
of  his  country  ;  the  weakness  of  an  unpopular  prince; 
the  degeneracy  of  an  effeminate  people.  The  Goths  were 
no  longer  the  victorious  barbarians,  who  had  humbled 
the  pride  of  Rome,  despoiled  the  queen  of  nations,  and 
penetrated  from  the  Danube  to  the  Atlantic  ocean. 
Secluded  from  the  world  bij  the  Pijrenhin  mountains,  the 
successors  of  Alaric  had  slumbered  in  a  long  peace  :  the 
avails  of  the  cities  were  mouldered  into  dust :  the  youth 
had  abandoned  the  exercise  of  arms  ;  and  the  presump- 
tion of  their  ancient  renoivn  "would  expose  them  in  afeld 
of  buttle  to  thefrst  assault  of  the  invaders.  The  ambi- 
tious Saracen  was  fired  by  the  ease  and  importance  of 
the  attempt  ;  but  the  execution  was  delayed  till  he  had 
consulted  the  commander  of  the  faithful ;  and  his  mes- 
senger returned  with  the  permission  of  Walid  to  annex 
the  unknown  kingdoms  of  the  West  to  the  religion  and 

*  Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol  ix.  p.  450-- 4^8. 


2og 

throne  of  the  caliphs.  In  his  residence  of  Tangier,  Musa, 
with  secrecy  and  caution,  continued  his  correspondence, 
and  hastened  his  preparations.  But  the  remorse  of  the 
conspirators  was  soothed  by  the  fallacious  assurance^  that 
he  should  content  himself  xmth  the  glory  and  spoil,  zaith' 
out  aspiring  to  establish  the  Moslems  beyond  the  sea  that 
separates  Africa  from  Europe."  Musa  having  at  length 
invaded  Spain,  its  Gothic  sovereign  and  nobility  too  late 
perceived  the  magnitude  of  the  danger.  "  In  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Cadiz,  the  town  of  Xeres  has  been  illus- 
trated by  the  encounter  which  determined  the  fate  of  the 
kingdom.  The  stream  of  the  Guadalete,  which  falls  in- 
to the  bay,  divided  the  two  camps,  and  marked  the  ad- 
vancing and  retreating  skirmishes  of  three  successive  and 
bloody  days.  On  the  fourth  day,  the  two  armies  joined 
a  more  serious  and  decisive  issue  ;  but  Alaric  would 
have  blushed  at  the  sight  of  his  unworthy  successor, 
sustaining  on  his  head  a  diadem  of  pearls,  encumbered 
with  a  flowing  robe  of  gold  and  silken  embroidery,  and 
reclining  on  a  litter  or  car  of  ivory  drawn  by  two  white 
mules."*  This  battle  terminated  in  the  complete  victory 
of  the  Saracens  ;  "  and  the  remains  of  the  Gothic  army 
were  scattered  or  destroyed  in  the  flight  and  pursuit  of 
the  three  following  days."f  Thus  has  the  Mohamme- 
dan little  horn  destroyed  many  while  slumbering  in  a 
state  of  false  security  ;  and  thus  accurately  has  the  proph- 
ecy of  Daniel  been  fulfilled. 

6.  The  only  remaining  peculiarity,  which  the  angel  as- 
cribes to  this  tifrannical  superstition,  is  still  future  :  it  is 
destined  to  be  broken  without  hand — ^This  event  is  to  take 
place  at  the  close  of  the  2200  years,  which,  as  we  have 
seen,  synchronizes  with  the  termination  of  the  1260 
years  ;  when  the  spiritual  sanctuary  will  begin  to  be 
cleansed  from  the  abominations  of  the  twofold  A  postacy. 
In  the  prediction  of  Daniel,  Mohammedism  alone  is 
spoken  of:  its  two  principal  supporters,  ^^<7i>rtr«ce?2^  and 
the  Turks,  are  not  discriminated  from  each  other :  2igen^ 

*  The  resemblance  between  the  effeminate  and  unwarllke  habiliments  of  the 
Spanish  Roderic  and  the  Persian  Rustam  cannot  but  have  been  observed  by  the 
reader.     Each  «  was  destroyed  in  negligent  security." 

t  Hist,  of  Decline  and  F^l,  Vol.  ix.  p.  469—474. 
VOL.    T.  27 


210 

end  history  of  the  superstition,  from  its  commencement 
to  its  termination,   is  given,   without  descending  to  par- 
,  ticularize  the  nations,  by  which  it  should  be  successive- 
ly patronized.     In  the  Revelation  of  St.  John  this  defi- 
ciency is   amply  supplied  :  and  we  are  furnished   with 
two  distinct  and  accurate  paintings  both  oi  the  Saracenic 
locusts  under  their  exterminating  leader,  and  of  the  Eu- 
phrafhm  horsemen  of  the  four  Turl^'-^fi  sultanies.*    "  The 
sovereignty  of  Arabia  was  lo*V   long  before  the  expira- 
tion o^the  2200   tjear^,  "  by  the  extent  and   rapidity  of 
conquest.     The  colonies  of  the  nation  were  scattered 
over  the  East  and   the  West,  and  their   blood  was  min- 
gled with  the  blood  of  their  converts  and  captives.     Af- 
ter the  reign  of  three  caliphs,  the  throne  was  transported 
from  Medina  to  the  valley  of  Damascus  and  the  banks 
of  the  Tigris  ;  the  holy  cities  were  violated   by  impious 
war ;  Arabia  was  ruled  by  the  rod  of  a  subject,  perhaps 
of  a  stranger  ;  and  the  Bedoweens  of  the  desert,  awak- 
ening from  their  dream  of  dominion,  resumed   their  old 
and  solitary   independence."-]*      The   Turks  at  present, 
jointly  with  the  Persians^  occupy  the  place   and  empire 
of  the  Saracens  ;  and  the  little   horn  of  Mohammedism 
has  branched  out  into  the  rival  sects  of  the  Shiitcs  and 
the  Sonnites.     It  appears  however  from  the  Apocalypse, 
that  the  Ottoman  pozcer,  like  its  predecessor  the  Saracenic 
Caliphate^   will  be  annihilated  previous   to  the  complete 
expiration  of  the  2200  and  the  1260   years,  and  conse- 
quently previous  to  the  downfall  o^  the  Roman  beast  un- 
der his  last   head  and  of  his  little  horn  the  papal  false 
prophet.     The  mystic  zcaters  of  the  Euphrates  are  to  be 
completely  dried  up   under  the  sixth  vial ;  and  by  their 
exhaustion   are  to  prepare  a  way  for  the  kings  from  the 
East^  and  for  the  gathering  together  of  the  grand  con- 
federacij  of  the  beast  ^  the  false  prophet,  and  the  kings  of 
the  Latin  earth,   to  their  destruction  at  Megiddo  :  but 
the  confederaci}  itself  is  not  to  be  destroyed  till  the  sev- 
enth vial  is  poured  out,   and  till  the  1'260  //ears  are  fully 
accomplished.:!:     The  downfall  of  the  Ottoman  empire, 

*   Rev.  h.  f  Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  ix.  p.  353. 

i  Compare  Rev.  ix.  14,  I  J.  xvi.  12,  1:?,  14,  15,  IG,  with  xvi,  17—21.  and  xix.  II 
— '_'!.    Tiicfc  matters  will  he  discussed  more  fuUv  hereafter. 


511 

the  prognostics  of  which  are  even  now  sufficiently  visible, 
will  greatly  weaken  tlie  spiritual  horn  ojMohammedism, 
but  certainly  not  altogether  break  its  strength.  The 
false  religion  of  the  Arabian  impostor  will  still  be  pro- 
fessed in  Persia,  Hindostan,  and  Barbary  ;  nor  will  it  be 
finally  "  broken  without  hand"  till  tlic  2200  years  shall 
have  expired.  What  precise  idea  we  are  to  annex  to 
this  phrase,  can  only  be  positively  determined  by  the 
event  :*  this  however  we  assuredly  know,  that  the  east- 
ern little  horn^  like  fts  icestern  fellow^  will  be  for  ever 
broken  at  the  termination  of  that  period.  Concerning 
what  is  future  we  cannot  venture  to  go  beyond  the  ex- 
press declarations  of  Scripture  ;  but  of  that  which  is  past 
we  may  speak  with  confidence  and  precision. 

We  have  seen  then,  that  the  little  horn  of  the  he-goat 
or  Macedonian  empire  answers,  in  every  particular  that 
has  hitherto  been  accomplished,  chronological  as  well  as 
circumstantial,  to  the  successful  imposture  of  Mohammed : 
we  have  seen,  that  only  one  particular  yet  remains  unac- 
complished ;  and  that  even  that  has  already  begun  to  be 
fulfilled  :  and  we  have  further  seen,  that,  although  the 
character  of  the  little  horn  agrees  in  some  particulars  with 

*  The  expression  is  ambiguous.  If  conjecture  be  allowable  in  such  a  matter,  it 
may  either  mean,  that  Mobammedhm  shall  be  as  it  were  practically  confuted  and  si- 
lenced by  the  second  advent  of  Christ,  against  whom  the  impostor  had  presumed 
to  stand  up  (Compare  Daniel  ii.  34,  35,  44,  45.)  :  or  it  may  mean,  that  it  shall 
gradually  fall  away  to  nothing  by  the  desertion  of  its  votaries,  and  thus  die  a  sort  of 
natural  death.  The  exhaustion  of  the  Euphrates  will  no  doubt  greatly  weaken  it :  and 
it  is  a  remarkable  circumstance,  even  in  these  eventful  times,  that  a  sect  has  lately 
made  its  appearence  in  the  very  country  of  the  false  Arabian  prophet,  which  threat- 
ens no  less  than  the  destruction  of  his  religion  itself.  The  Walabees  are  infidels ; 
and  their  numbers  are  daily  increasing.  Their  opinions  have  been  maintained  La 
secret  near  sixty  years  ;  and  thev  at  length  find  tiiemselves  strong  enough  to  take 
up  arms  in  defence  of  them.  It  is  said,  that  they  occupy  the  greatest  part  of  the 
country  which  extends  from  Medina  to  the  Euphrates.  Their  last  exploit,  of  \vhich 
we  hav^e  recently  received  an  account,  shews  their  decided  hostility  to  Mobammedistn 
in  a  very  striking  point  of  view.  Having  reinforced  their  army  from  the  desert, 
and  having  ovenvhelmed  the  whole  adjacent  countrv,  thev  suddenly  assaulted  and 
took  the  city  of  Medina  with  infinite  bloodshed  and  devastation.  They  set  fire  to 
it  in  various  places  ;  destroyed  the  mosques,  after  having  ransacked  them  of  their 
shrines  and  treasures ;  and  completely  demolished  the  tomb  of  the  prophet.  Some 
thousands  of  females  of  the  first  rank  were  carried  ofT  by  the  besiegers  into  the 
desert,  with  a  number  of  the  principal  male  inhabitants.  A  troop  of  camels  was 
also  sent  away  with  jewels  and  otlier  treasure  to  an  immense  amount.  (See  Morn- 
ing Posi  Yeb.  22,  1 806.)  Should  this  sect  continue  to  increase,  Mohammedism  must 
fall  eventaaily  by  mere  force  of  opinion.  If  its  votaries  continue  gradually  to 
abandon  it,  w»  niay  easily  conceive,  how,  at  the  time  of  the  end,  it  will  be  broken  ititb- 
out  hand.  Tlie  leader  will  of  course  view  the  whole  that  ha?  been  said  on  this  point 
in  rhe  hght  of  mer--;  coniecture. 


21g 


those  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  the  Romans,  and  fhe  p6ti>' 
er  of  Infide'itij  ;  yet  it  entirely  disagrees  with  them  in 
others  : — the  result  therefore  of  the  whole  inquiry  must 
be  this,  that  the  prophet  designed  to  symbolize  by  the 
little  hot^n  Mohammedism^  and  nothing  but  Mohammedism. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

Concerning  DcmiePs  last  vision,  and  the  king  who  mag-', 
mjied  himself  above  every  God, 

DANIEL,  having  in  his  two  former  visions  pre- 
dicted the  tyrannij  of  the  two-fold  Apostacy  of  Popery 
and  Mohammedism,  proceeds  in  his  concluding  prophecy  * 
to  give  a  most  accurate  account  of  the  subversion  o{  the 
Medo- Persian  empire,  the  rise  of  the  Macedonian  empire, 
its  subsequent  division  into  four  kingdoms,  the  wars  of 
the  Greek  kings  of  Syria  and  Egi^pt,  and  the  conquest 
of  Jerusalem  bij  the  Romans.  The  whole  of  this,  which 
is  only  an  enlarged  and  literal  repetition  of  his  former 
brief  and  symbolical  predictions,  serves  as  a  kind  of 
chronological  introduction  to  the  history  oi  the  king  who 
was  to  magnify  himself  above  every  god  ;  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  vision  of  the  four  beasts  conducted  us 
to  the  tyrannical  reign  of  the  papal  horn,  and  the  vision 
of  the  ram  and  the  he-goat  to  the  exploits  of  the  Moham- 
medan horn. 

The  first  part  of  this  wonderfully  minute  prophecy  has 
been  so  amply  and  satisfactorily  explained  by  Bp.  New- 
ton, that  it  would  be  superfluous  in  me  to  offer  any  ob- 
servations upon  it.  Suffice  it  to  say,  in  the  words  of 
that  excellent  commentator,  "  there  is  not  so  complete 
and  regular  a  series  of  the  kings  of  Egypt  and  Syria, 
there  is  not  so  concise  and  comprehensive  an  account  of 
their  affairs,  to  be  found  in  any  author  of  those  times. 
The  prophecy  is  really  more  perfect  than  any  history." 

*  Dan.  X,  x\,  xii. 


213 

The  explanation  oi  the  second  part  o^  this  prediction 
is  attended  with  considerably  more  difficulties,  than  that 
of  the  first.  The  main  question  here,  which  offers  it- 
self to  our  attention,  is  this  :  What  poisoer  did  Daniel 
mean  to  describe  under  the  character  of  the  king  ivho 
was  to  magmfij  himself  above  every  god!  Are  zve  to  sup- 
pose^ that  this  part  of  the  prophecy  is  only  a  repetition  of 
the  historij  of  one  of  the  little  horns  ;  or  that  it  is  a  prc'^ 
diction  of  some  third  power  distinct  from  them  both  / 

Bp.  Newton  adopts,  in  part  at  leasts  the  former  of 
these  suppositions.  He  explains  this  king  to  signify, 
primarily^  the  Roman  emperors^  after  the  conversion  of 
the  empire  to  Christianity  ;  and,  secondarilif^  to  mean  at 
once  the  Greek  emperors  in  the  East,  and  the  Bishops 
of  Rome  in  the  West,  the  king  consequently,  in  his  lat- 
ter character,  is  the  papal  little  horn  combined,  as  it  were, 
with  the  temporal  authority  of  the  Const antinopolitan 
sovereigns.  Hence  he  applies  some  parts  of  the  pro- 
phecy to  the  Roman  Emperot^s,  before  the  division  of  the 
empire,  some  to  the  Papacy  in  the  West,  and  some  to  the 
ConstantinopoUtan  emperors  in  the  East — He  conjectures, 
for  instance,  that  the  hinges  doing  according  to  his  imll^ 
his  magnifying  himself  above  every  god,  and  his  speak- 
ing  marvellous  things  against  the  God  of  gods,  intimate  ; 
*'  that,  after  the  empire  was  become  Christian,  there 
should  spring  up  in  the  Church  an  anfichristian  pozoer, 
that  should  act  in  the  most  absolute  and  arbitrary  man- 
ner, exalt  itself  above  all  laws  divine  and  human,  dis- 
pense with  the  most  solemn  and  sacred  obligations,  and 
in  many  respects  enjoin  what  God  had  forbidden,  and 
forbid  what  God  had  commanded.  This  power  began 
in  the  Roman  emperors,  who  summoned  councils,  and 
directed  and  influenced  their  determinations  almost  as 
they  pleased.  After  the  division  of  the  empire,  this 
power  still  increased,  and  was  exerted  principally  by  the 
Greek  emperors  in  the  East,  and  by  the  Bishops  of 
Rome  in  the  West."*  The  king^s  disregarding  the  de- 
sire of  icomen  he  applies  to  monasticism,  whether  orien- 
tal or  occidental,  and  to  the  constrained  celibacy  of  the 
clergy  ;  his  veneration  of  Malmzzim^  or  tutelary  demi- 

*  Bp.  Newten'e  Dissert,  xvil 


214 

gods,  to  the  idolatrous  xcorship  of  saints  and  angels^ 
first  openly  established  and  required  by  the  church  of 
Rome,  though  prevalent  likewise  in  the  Greek  church  ; 
and  his  tears  icith  the  king  of  the  south  and  the  king  of  the 
norths  to  the  invasioti  of  the  eastern  empire  by  the  Sara- 
cens^ and  its  fnal  subversion  by  the  Turks* 

Mr.  Kett,  adhering  to  his  plan  of  primary  and  secwi- 
//or^  completions  oi  the  same  prophecy,  adopts  the  latter 
supposition,  yet  without  excluding  the  former — "  The 
application,"  says  he,  "  of  this  prophecy  to  the  papal 
Antichrist ;  to  the  conquests  of  the  Saracen  king  of  the 
south,  and  the  Turkish  Icing  of  the  north,  over  the  holy 
jand  and  many  other  countries  ;  the  escape  of  Arabia, 
and  the  subjection  of  Egijpf  and  Barbary  ;  have  beeQ 
clearly,  I  had  almost  said  indisputably,  established  by 
many  learned  commentators.  But,  how  far  this  proph- 
ecy may  be  considered  as  a  double  type  of  Antichrist,  and 
how  much  may  be  supposed  to  be  yet  future,  are  quest- 
ions which  can  only  be  decided  by  a  careful  comparison 
with  other  prophecies  respecting  the  same  period,  and 
by  the  course  of  events  which  time  shall  bring  to  light.""!* 
— He  afterwards  adds:  "The  accomplishment,  which 
the  former  part  oi  i\\\'s,  prophecy"  (concerning  the  king 
who  zvas  to  magnify  himself  above  ever?/  god  J  "  has  re- 
ceived in  the  papal  poicer,  and  in  the  conquests  of  the 
Mohammedan  power,  is  confessedly  accurate  :  but  much 
remains  to  be  fulfilled ;  and  many  reasons  might  be  pro- 
duced to  authorize  the  conjecture,  that  even  that  part  of 
the  prophecy,  which  has  been  so  decidedly  fulfilled,  will 
hereafter  receive  a  more  full  and  perfect  accomplish- 
ment.":!:— He  further  observes,  that  "  the  end  of  this 
king'^  (meaning,  I  apprehend  from  the  context,  the  king 

'"  Ibid.  Dissert,  xvii.  Dr.  Zouch,  for  any  thing  that  appears  to  the  contrary, 
applies  the  prophecy  relative  to  this  king  exclusively  to  the  Papacy.  He  forbears 
however  noticing  that  part  of  it,  which  treats  of  the  wars  of  the  king  with  the  kings 
f>f  the  N'orth  and  the  South.  Yet  these  wars  constitute  so  very  prominent  a  feature 
in  the  history  of  the  king,  whatever  power  he  may  be  designed  to  represent,  that 
they  surely  ought  not  to  have  been  omitted :  especially  since  Dr.  Zouch  asserts, 
that,  in  his  character,  "  w^e  discover  a  designation  of  the  same  power,"  as  that 
symbolized  by  the  papal  little  horn,  "  somewhat  indeed  diversified,  but  not  so  as  to 
prevent  us  from  acknowledging  its  identity."  (Zouch  on  Prophecy,  p.  163 
171.)  Mr.  Mede's  exposition  of  the  prophecy  is  nearly  the  same  as  that  of  Bp. 
Newton's.  1  shall  hereafter  discuss  it  conjointly  with  that  of  the  Bishop. 
t  Hist,  the  Interp.  Vol.  1.  p.  HGS.  ]  Ibid.  p.  573. 


215 

of  the  North]  "  vvliether  Mohammedan  or  Infidel^  is  to 
be  exactly  similar  to  the  end  of  the  Grecian  little  horn, 
and  the  horn  of  the  fourth  beast  in  the  former  vision  :  yet 
he  shall  come  to  his  end^  and  none  shall  help  him"* — And 
he  lastly  conjectures  :  "  If  infidel  France  be  this  king  of 
the  North,  we  may  presume  that  it  will  take  possession 
of  the  present  dominions  of  the  Turkish  Mohammedan 
power/^-j" — The  whole  that  Mr.  Kett  has  said  upon  the 
subject  of  the  prophecy  now  under  consideration,  is  so 
extremely  obscure,  and  so  widely  scattered  in  different 
parts  of  his  work,  that  I  greatly  fear,  lest  1  should  unde- 
signedly be  guilty  of  misrepresenting  his  meaning.  As 
far  however  as  1  am  able  to  collect  his  sentiments  from 
these  several  passages  when  viewed  in  connection  with 
each  other,  it  appears,  that  Mr.  Kett  supposes  the  king; 
who  magnified  himself  above  every  god  to  be  primarily 
the  Papacy :  but  that  he  wishes  nevertheless  this  sup- 
position to  be  adopted  without  excluding  the  possibility 
of  his  character  being  designed  for  a  double  type  of  Anti- 
ehrist ;  that  is,  I  suppose,  Antichrist  both  Papal  and  In- 
fdel,  unless  indeed  Mr.  Kett  means  Antichrist  both  Pa- 
jjal  and  Mohammedan,  for  he  does  not  expressly  say,  in 
what  manner  the  king  is  a  double  tijpe  of  Antichrist.  It 
further  appears,  that  he  doubts  whether  the  king  of  the 
North,  the  mighty  rival  of  the  king  who  magnified  him- 
self above  every  god,  be  Mohammedan  Turkey,  or  infidel 
France.%  The  sum  therefore  of  the  whole  is,  unless  I 
have  completely  misunderstood  Mr.  Kett,  that  the  two 
potentates,  whom  Daniel  represents  as  such  bitter  ene- 
mies to  each  other,  may  after  all  be  one  and  the  same. 
As  for  instance  :  \^  the  king  who  ynagnified  himself  above 
every  god  be  secondarily  infidel  France,  and  if  the  king 
of  the  North  be  infidel  France  likewise,  these  two  hos- 
tile kings  are  evidently  made  to  be  one  power :  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  if  the  king  who  magnified  himself  above 
every  god  be  secondarily  Mohammedan  Turkey,  and  if 
the  king  of  the  North  be  Mohammedan  Turkey  likewise, 
in  this  case  also  the   two  rivals  are  equally  identified 

*  Hist.  Interp.  Vol.  i.p.  374.  .]■  Ibid.  Vol.  ii.  p.  302. 

\  — «  this  king,  whether  Mohammedan  or  Infidel"—."  if  infidel  France  be  this  king 
«f  the  north"— 


^6 

with  each  other.  For  it  is  manifest,  that  the  hing  10/10 
magm/ied  himself  above  ever//  ^oc^  cannot  be,  as  Mr.  Kett 
supposes,  a  double  type  of  Antichrist^  without  being  sec- 
ondarily either  Mohammedan  Turkey,  or  infidel  France  : 
and,  let  him  be  which  of  these  two  he  may,  he  will  be 
equally  confounded  with  the  king  of  the  North,  if  the 
king  of  the  North  may  be  either  Mohammedan  Tier  key 
or  infidel  France  hkevvise. 

With  regard  to  the  exposition  offered  by  Bp.  Newton, 
it  is  liable  to  a  variety  of  objections. 

1.  The  first,  which  presents  itself  to  the  mind,  is, 
that  it  makes  this  last  prediction  of  Daniel  vent  little 
more  than  a  mere  repetition  of  a  former  one.  Since  the 
prophet  had  alreadif  described  the  tyranny  of  the  Papa- 
cy under  the  symbol  of  a  little  horn,  it  is  scarcely  prob- 
able that  he  would  resume  a  subject,  which  he  had  pre- 
viously discussed  and  dismissed.  Yet  this  superfluous 
resumption  is  necessarily  supposed  by  such  an  exposi- 
tion.* 

2.  The  next  objection  is  its  laant  of  unity  and  simpUci- 
tif.  Each  of  the  little  horns  symbolizes  one  single  and 
distinct  power  :  whence  it  is  but  reasonable  to  conclude, 
that  Me  king,  mentioned  in  the  last  prophecy  of  Daniel, 
is  one  single  and  distinct  power  likewise.  But  the  system 
of  Bp.   Newton  makes  him  a  complex  power,  exerted 

frst  in  the  empire  in  general,  and  afterwards  partly  in  the 
jEast,  and  partly  in  the  West  ;  a  sort  of  compound,  in 
his  latter  character,  of  the  Greek  emperor  and  the  Pope. 

*  Daniel's  frequent  recapitulations  of  the  temporal  history  of  ibe  four  great  em- 
pires are,  not  only  net  supurfuous,  but  absolutely  necessary.  The  great  excellence  of 
his  prophcies  is,  that  they  are  strictly  both  local  and  chronological  ones.  Hence  he. 
repeats  the  substance  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  dream  of  the  image  in  his  vision  of  the  four 
beasts,  in  order  that  vce  maj'  exactly  know  at  ivhat  era,  and  in  ivhat  empire,  to  look 
for  the  tyranny  of  the  first  little  horn  :  and  hence,  in  a  similar  manner,  he  recapitu- 
lates the  history  of  the  second  and  third  empires  in  his  vision  of  the  ram  and  the  be-goatf 
in  order  that  we  may  be  able  precisely  to  ascertain  the  age  and  country  of  the  second 
little  born.  For  the  same  reason,  he  once  more  repeats,  in  bis  last  vision,  the  history 
of  the  second  and  third  empires,  and  the  latter  part  of  the  history  of  the  Romans  ;  with 
a  view  to  conduct  us,  in  a  regular  chronological  series,  to  the  tyranny  of  the  Hug 
•who  regarded  not  any  god.  Now,  if  this  Hag  be,  in  a  great  measure,  the  same  as  the 
frst  little  born  ;  it  is  evident,  that  the  last  idsion  must  be  almost  entirely  a  mere  repe- 
tition of  the  -jision  of  the  four  beasts  ;  (the  fist  of  them  alone  being  excluded)  not  cr 
studied  recapitulation  of  their  temporal  histoiy,  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  a  ncTi' 
character,  different  from  those  of  which  he  had  treated  before.  Consequently,  upon 
such  a  supposition,   the  b.st  vision    will  be  a  complete  repetition,  not  a  partiil  recapiti/'. 


■la:, 


gn: 


917 

This  system  with  some  shades  of  difference  has  the 
sanction  of  the  venerable  name  of  Joseph  Mecle.  Mr, 
Mede  includes  in  the  character  of  the  king,  not  only 
the  Pope  together  with  the  Eastern  and  Western  Eni' 
perors,  but  likewise  the  pagan  Roman  state  from  the 
time  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes.^  Such  an  unwarrantable 
licence  of  exposition  seems  to  me  to  carry  along  with 
it  its  own  confutation  :  for,  if  a  single  prophetic  character 
may  comprehend  so  mamj  different  persons  and  things^ 
the  application  of  the  different  parts  of  the  prediction 
must  be  left  entirely  to  the  discretion  of  the  commenta- 
tor. In  the  prophecy,  a  certain  number  of  actions  are 
ascribed  to  one  single  and  distinct  power.  But,  if  we  in- 
quire what  is  meant  hy  the  king^  s  speaking  marvellous  things 
against  the  God  of  gods,  Mr.  Mede  informs  us,  that  it 
alludes  to  the  crucifixion  of  our  Lord  by  the  Romans. 
If  we  next  inquire,  what  is  intended  by  the  king^s  doing 
according  to  his  zvill,  we  are  taught  by  Bp.  Newton  that 
it  relates  to  a  tyrannical  power  exercised  in  the  Church 
first  by  the  Christian  Emperors  before  the  division  of  the 
Empire  and  afterwards  by  the  Greek  Emperors  in  the 
East  and  the  Popes  in  the  West.  If  we  again  inquire 
what  is  meant  by  the  king^s  magniffing  himself  above  ev- 
er// god,  we  are  referred  to  the  prophecy  of  the  man  of 
sin,  and  are  told  that  it  alludes  to  the  Pope  receiving  di- 
vine honours  in  the  temple  of  God.  If  we  further  in- 
quire what  is  meant  by  the  king^s  disregarding  the  desire 
of  women,  we  are  then  carried  back  to  the  days  of  the 
Emperor  Constantine,  the  rise  of  monasticism  in  the 
East,  and  its  subsequent  establishment  in  the  West.  If 
we  next  inquire  what  is  intended  by  the  king^s  honour" 
ing  a  foreign  deity  and  certain  Mahuzzim  or  tutelary 
gods,  we  are  referred  to  the  idolatrous  veneration  of 
saints  and  ansrels  which  alike  infected  the  rival  churches 
of  Rome  and  Constantinople.  And,  if  we  lastly  require 
an  explanation  of  the  zoars  of  the  king  with  the  kings  of 
the  North  and  the  South,  our  attention  is  then  entirely 
diverted  from  the  Church  to  the  State  ;  and  we  are 
taught  that  they  refer,  not  to  any  actions  of  the  Pope, 

*  Apostacy  of  the  latter  times,  Part  I.  Chap,  16,  17. 
VOL.  I.  i^8 


218 

but  to  the  wars  of  the  Eastern  Emperor  with  the  Sara- 
cens and  tfie  Turks. 

I  cannot  but  think,  that  such  a  mode  of  exposition  as 
this  accords  very  ill  with  the  definite  simplicity,  for 
which  the  prophecies  of  Daniel  are  so  remarkable.  In- 
stead of  treading'  with  confidence  upon  sure  ground,  I 
feel  myself  bewildered  in  a  succession  of  rapid  changes 
from  pagan  Rome  to  Christian  Rome,  from  t/ie  Emperors 
before  the  division  of  the  Empire  to  the  Emperors  ajter 
its  division,  from  the  Emperors  of  Constantinople  to  the 
Popes  of  Rome,  from  the  East  to  the  West  and  from  the 
West  to  the  East,  from  the  State  to  the  Church  and  from 
the  Church  to  the  State,  from  the  impious  adoration  paid 
to  the  Roman  Pontif  to  the  struggles  of  the  Constantino- 
politan  monarch  zvith  the  Saracens  and  the  Turks. 

To  this  objection  it  would  probably  be  answered,  that 
the  king,  like  the  ten-horned  beast,  means  the  whole  Ro- 
man  state  ;  and  consequently  that  the  different  actions, 
performed  by  the  different  members  of  that  state,  are  all 
ascribed  to  the  same  king  or  kingdom. 

Such  an  answer,  though  perhaps  the  best  that  can  be 
given,  is  to  me  by  no  means  satisfactory.  In  the  united 
prophecy  of  Daniel  and  St.  John  relative  to  the  Roman 
beast,  their  own  proper  actions  are  assigned  respectively 
to  his  seven  heads,  his  ten  horns,  and  his  little  horn  ;  so 
that  we  are  in  no  danoer  of  mistakino"  either  the  actions 
or  the  persons  of  some  of  his  members  for  either  the  ac- 
tions or  the  persons  of  others  of  them  :*  but,  in  the  pro- 
phecy of  the  king,  according  to  the  mode  of  exposition 
now  under  consideration,  all  is  confusion  and  uncertain- 
ty ;  insomuch  that  even  Mr.  Mede  and  Bp.  Newton  can- 
not agree  as  to  the  precise  period  of  the  Roman  history 
when  we  are  to  suppose  that  the  prophecy  began  to  be 
accomplished  ;  the  one  conceiving  the  king  to  mean  the 
Empire  from  the  time  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes  and  inter- 
preting part  of  the  prophecy  to  relate  to  the  death  of  our 
Lord,  the  other  dating  the  prophecy  only  from  about  the 
days  of  Constantine. 

'*  The  same  remark  applies  to  the  douWe  prophecy  respecting  the  Macidoman 
.-mpire  symbohzed  botli  by  the  UcparJ  in  one  vision  and  by  the  he-goat  in  aaothcr. 
It  JJkewise  applies  to  the  prophecy  of  ths  Persian  ram  ivith  two  horns. 


219 

3.  The  last  and  most  conclusive  objection^  ivJiich  I  shall 
tirgCf  is,  that  such  an  exposition  cannot  be  made  to  accord 
Ti-ifh  the  chronological  series  ofezents  as  detailed  bij  Dan- 
iel, in  regular  succession,  in  this  his  concluding  projjheci/. 

We  have  the  authority  of  our  Lord  for  pronouncing, 
that  the  abomination  of  desolation,  mentioned  in  the  3\st 
verse  of  the  1  [th  chapter,  is  to  be  referred  to  the  sacking 
of  Jerusalem  bij  the  Romans.  Of  this  Bp.  Newton  is 
sensible  ;  and  therefore  very  justly  applies  the  tzco  fol- 
lozcing  verses*  to  the  pagan  persecutions  of  the  primitive 
Christians.  "  The  Roman  magistrates  and  officers/'  says 
he,  "  it  is  very  well  known,  made  use  of  the  most  allur- 
ing promises,  as  well  as  of  the  most  terrible  threatenings, 
to  prevail  upon  them  to  renounce  their  religion,  and  offer 
incense  to  the  statues  of  the  emperors  and  images  of  the 
gods.  Many  were  induced  to  comply  with  the  tempta- 
tion and  apostatized  from  the  faith,  as  we  learn  particu- 
larly from  the  famous  epistle  of  Pliny  to  Trajan  :  but  the 
true  Christians,  the  people  who  knew  their  God,  w^ere 
strong  ;  remained  firm  to  their  religion  ;  and  gave  the 
most  illustrious  proofs  of  the  most  heroic  patience  and 
fortitude.  It  may  too  with  strictest  truth  and  propriety 
be  said  of  the  primitive  Christians,  that,  being  dispersed 
every  where,  and  preaching  the  gospel  in  all  the  parts  of 
the  Roman  empire,  thei/  instructed  manij,  and  gained  a 
great  number  of  proselytes  to  their  religion  :  ijet  theij fell 
by  the  sword,  and  by  fame,  bif  captivity,  and  by  spoil, 
many  days  ;  for  they  were  exposed  to  the  malice  and  fury 
of  ten  general  persecutions,  and  suffered  all  manner  of 
injuries,  afflictions,  and  tortures,  with  little  intermission 
for  the  space  of  three  hundred  years."f 

The  34:th  verse"^  he  with  equal  propriety  applies  to 
the  days  of  Constantine.  "  The  most  natural  way  of  in- 
terpretation," he  justly  observes,  "  is  to  follow  the  course 
and  series  of  events.     The   Church  had  now  laboured 

*  "  And  such  as  do  wickedly  against  the  covenant  shall  he  corrupt  by  flatteries  : 
but  the  people,  that  do  know  their  God,  shall  be  strong,  and  do  exploits.  And  they 
that  understand  among  the  people,  shall  instruct  many  :  yet  they  shall  fall  by  the 
sword,  and  by  flame,  Ijy  captivity,  and  by  spoil,  many  days."     Ver.  32,  ii'2. 

f  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  xvii. 
^  "  Now,  when  they  fall,  they  shall  be  holpen  with  »  fittle  help  ;  bet  many  shall 
cleave  to  them  with  flatteries."    Ver.  24, 


220 

under  long  and  severe  persecutions  from  the  civil  power— 
The  tenth  and  last  general  persecution  was  begun  by 
Diocletian  :  it  raged,  though  not  at  all  times  equally,  ten 
years ;  and  was  suppressed  entirely  by  Constantine,  the 
first  Roman  emperor,  as  it  is  universally  known,  who 
made  open  profession  of  Christianity  :  and  then  the 
Church  was  no  longer  persecuted,  but  was  protected  and 
favoured  by  the  civil  power.  But  still  this  is  called  only 
a  little  help  :  because,  though  it  added  much  to  the  tem- 
poral prosperity,  yet  it  contributed  little  to  the  spiritual 
graces  and  virtues,  of  Christians.  It  enlarged  their  rev- 
enues, and  increased  their  endowments  ;  but  proved  the 
fatal  means  of  corrupting  the  doctrine,  and  relaxing  the 
discipline,  of  the  Church.  It  was  attended  with  this  pe- 
culiar disadvantage,  that  mmjij  clave  to  them  ivithjlattc' 
ries.  Many  became  Christians,  for  the  sake  of  the  loaves 
and  the  fishes  ;  and  pretended  to  be  of  the  religion,  only 
because  it  was  the  religion  of  the  Emperor.  Eusebius, 
\vho  was  a  contemporary'  writer,  reckons,  that  one  of  the 
reigning  vices  of  the  time  was  the  dissimulation  and  hy- 
pocrisy of  men  fraudulently  entering  into  the  Church,  and 
borrowing  the  name  of  Christians  without  the  realit}'."* 
Hitherto  the  Bishop  has  very  clearly  explained  the 
meaning  of  the  prophecy  :  but  in  his  exposition  of  the 
35th  verse'l  he  has  not  been  equally  successful.  He 
supposes,  that  this  passage  relates,  in  the  first  instance, 
to  the  quarrels  of  the  Christians  among  each  other. 
"  The  Consubstantialists,"  says  he,  "  even  in  the  time 
of  Constantine,  led  the  way  by  excommunicating  and 
banishing  the  Arians.  The  latter,  under  the  favour  of 
Constantius  and  Valens,  more  than  retorted  the  injury, 
and  were  guilty  of  many  horrible  outrages  and  cruelties 
towards  the  former."  He  aftevvards  applies  the  passage, 
in  the  second  instance,  to  the  persecution  of  the  protest- 
ants  hij  the  papists.  "  These  calamities  were  to  befall 
the  Christians  to  trij  them,  and  purge,  and  make  them 
white,  not  only  at  that  time,   but  even  to  the  time  of  the 

^  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert.  XVII. 

f  "  And  some  of  them  of  understanding  shall  fall"  (that  is,  perish)  "  in  purifying 
them,  and  in  purging  them,  and  in  making  them  white,  even  to  the  time  of  tht 
cad  :  because  it  is  yet  unto  the  time  appointed,"    Ver.  85, 


221 

end^  hecause  it  is  yet  for  a  time  appointed  :  and  we  see, 
even  at  this  da}',  not  to  alledge  other  instances,  how  the 
poor  protestants  are  persecuted,  plundered,  and  murder- 
ed, in  the  southern  parts  of  France."* 

The  only  manner,  in  which  prophecy  can  be  satisfac- 
torily explained  is  by  strictly  adhering  to  its  plain  unvar- 
nished declarations.  It  is  observable,  that  in  this  verse 
the  true  Church  is  represented  as  being  again  in  a  state 
of  persecution,  similar  to  that  which  she  had  before  en- 
dured from  the  fury  of  Paganism.  As,  in  the  jirst  per^ 
secution^  they,  that  understood,  were  to  instruct  many  ; 
and,  in  consequence  of  their  zeal,  to  fall  by  the  sword, 
and  by  flame,  by  captivity,  and  by  spoil :  so,  in  this  sec- 
ond persecution,  some  of  the  men  of  understanding  are, 
in  a  similar  manner,  to  perish  in  attempting  to  bring 
about  a  reformation  in  the  now  degenerate  Christian 
world.  Hence  it  is  evident,  that  the  men  of  understand" 
ing  must,  in  both  cases,  be  men  of  the  same  principles  ; 
that  is,  men  prof essing  and  acting  up  to  the  pure  truths  of 
the  Gospel,  in  contradistinction  to  the  heathens  in  the 
former  instance,  and  to  corrupt  Christians'\  in  the  latter 
instance.  Such  being  the  plain  import  of  the  prophecy, 
that  part  of  it,  which  is  contained  in  the  thirty  ffth  verse^ 
certainly  can  have  no  relation  to  the  quarrels  ofiheCon- 
suhstantialists  and  the  Arians.  The  passage  in  question 
describes,  not  tJie  variously  successful  and  unsuccessful 
struggles  of  two  rival  parties  ;  but  the  persecution  of  men ^ 
similar  to  the  first  martijrs  of  the  Church,  on  account  of 
their  desire  to  purify  their  degenerate  brethren.  We 
must  look  therefore  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  pre- 
diction in  an  age  long  posterior  to  that  of  the  Consub- 
stantialists  and  the  Arians. 

In  our  inquiries  for  this  age  of  persecution  we  shall  be 
greatly  assisted  by  attending  to  the  very  accurate  lan- 
guage of  the  prophet.  Fie  tells  us,  that  these  men  of 
understanding  shall  continue  in  a  persecuted  state  to  the 
time  of  the  end ;  because  their  trials  are  yet  unto  the  time 
appointed.     But  the  time  of  the  end  commences  at  the 

*  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert.  XVII. 
t  These  corrupt  Christians  are  styled  Gentiles  by  St.  John  on  account  of  their 
having  relapsed  into  the  old  abominations  of  Gentile  idolatry.    Rev.  xi.  2. 


'2^2 

termination  of  the  1260  years  :  therefore  the  persecution 
of  the  second  mentioned  men  of  understanding  is  to  conti- 
nue to  the  end  of  t lie  1260  years.  Hence  it  is  manifest, 
that  this  persecution  is  the  same  as  that  which  was  to 
take  place  during  the  reign  of  the  papal  horn^  represented 
by  St.  John  under  the  images  oi  the  xvitnesses  prophesy- 
ing in  sackcloth^  and  the  fight  of  t  lie  woman  into  the  wil- 
derness. Daniel  however,  I  conceive,  meant  specially 
to  point  out  a  particular  period  in  the  course  oi  the  1260 
years ;  a  period^  which  should  bear  a  more  striking  and 
definite  resemblance  to  the  period  of  heathen  persecution, 
than  any  other  part  of  the  reign  of  the  horn.  These  sec- 
ond men  of  understanding  are  described  by  the  prophet, 
as  not  content  with  secretlij  holding  their  opinions,  and 
assembling  their  congregations,  in  the  deep  recesses  of 
mountains  and  forests  :  but  as  boldlif  and  openly  coming 
forward,  like  the  first  men  of  understanding  ;  as  labouring 
to  propagate  their  tenets  ;  and  as  attempting  to  purge, 
reform^  and  make  white,  a  corrupt  and  degenerate  Church. 
Such  a  description  agrees  only  with  the  glorious  era  of 
the  reformation.  The  unfortunate  and  much  injured 
Waldenses,*  cooped   up  in  the  mountainous  regions  of 

*  The  Abbe  Barrucl,  in  the  true  spirit  of  a  determined  Papist,  has  endeavoured 
to  fix  the  imputation  of  Manichihm  upon  tlie  Waldenses  ;  as  if,  even  granting  that 
he  had  been  successful,  such  a  charge  would  warrant  the  diabolical  cruelties  of  his 
corrupt  church.  Grossly  however  as  these  victims  of  persecution  have  been  mis- 
represented and  vilified  by  the  adherents  of  popery,  there  are  not  wanting  testimo- 
jues  in  their  favour  borne  even  by  papists  themselves.  Bp.  Newton  cites  three  of 
these  witnesses,  whom,  as  he  justly  observes,  ^^  both  sides  must  allow  to  be  unexcep- 
tionable, Reinerius,  Tl.manus,  and  Mezeray."  The  testimony  of  the  last-mentioned 
author  is  short,  but  immediately  to  the  purpose.  "  They  had  almost  the  same 
opinions,"  says  he,  "  as  those  who  are  now  called  Cal'vinists."  Their  real  crime  is 
with  much  simplicity  declared  by  Reinerius,  who  flourished  about  the  year  1254, 
and  who  has  the  additional  recommendation  of  being  at  once  a  Dominican  and  an 
Inquisitor  general.  "  They  live  justly  before  men,"  says  he,  "  and  believe  all  things 
rightly  concerning  God,  and  all  the  articles  which  are  contained  in  the  creed  :  only" 
( — hie  niger  est,  hunc  tu,  Romane,  caveto,)  "  only  they  blaspheme  the  church  of 
Rome,  and  the  clergy,  in  whom  the  multitude  of  the  laity  readily  place  an  implicit 
confidence."  (See  Ep.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  Rev.  xi.)  W^hether  the  modern  Abbe 
Barruel,  or  the  ancient  hicjuisitor  general  Reinerius,  be  the  most  deserving  of  credit, 
the  candid  reader  must  determine  for  himself.  "  As  there  was  a  variety  of  names," 
says  Bp.  Newton,  "  so  there  might  be  some  diversity  of  opinions  of  them  ;  but  that 
they  were  not  guilty  of  Mankhlism  and  other  abominable  heresies,  which  have  been 
charged  upon  tliem,  is  certain  and  evident  from  all  the  remains  of  their  creeds,  con- 
fessions, and  writings."  The  Albigenses  are  frequently  considered  as  a  branch  of 
the  AValdenses  ;  but,  according  to  Mosheim,  they  were  an  entirely  diflerent  people. 
Of  the  piety  of  the  Waldenses  he  speaks  in  veiy  high  terms :  and  even  tiie  Albi- 
genses he  exculpates  from  the  charge  of  Manicheism ;  and  seems  to  think,  that  their 


223 

France  and  Italy,  existed  indeed  like  leaven  in  a  mass  of 
bread-corn  ;*  but  are  little  known  except  by  their  pa- 
tient suffering  for  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  by  the  relent- 
less bigotry  of  their  blood-thirsty  persecutors  :  while  the 
martyrs  of  the  reformation  "  have  filled  the  whole  world 
with  their  doctrine,"  and  have  raised  an  edifice  against 
which  the  agents  of  Popery  have  vainly  exerted  all  their 
powers.  The  second  persecution  then  of  the  men  of  un- 
derstanding must  be  referred  in  a  peculiar,  1  had  almost 
said  exclusive^  manner  to  the  reformation  of  the  sixteenth 
centurij.  That  it  has  such  a  reference  in  part  at  least, 
Bp.  Newton  himself  allows  :  but,  as  if  conscious  that 
such  an  acknowledgment  would  chronologicallij  invali- 
date his  proposed  interpretation  of  the  prophecy  respect- 
ing the  king  zcho  zt'as  to  exalt  himsef  above  every  god^  he 
cautiously  adds,  "  the  principal  source  of  these  persecu- 
tions is  traced  out  in  the  following  verses."  Now,  upon 
examining  these  follo'di'ing  verses,  we  shall  not  find  that 
they  afford  us  any  warrant  to  suppose,  that  the  king  was 
to  be  at  all  concerned  in  persecuting  the  men  of  under" 
standing.  In  the  whole  account,  which  the  prophet  gives 
of  his  character.,^  not  a  single  hint  is  dropped,  that,  like 
the  little  papal  horn,  he  should  wear  out  the  saints  of  the 
Most  High.  At  the  beginning  of  his  reign  at  least,  all  his 
exploits  are  of  an  entirely  different  nature,  and  directed 
to  an  entirely  different  end.  They  are  exploits  purely 
atheistical :  for  the  object  of  his  rancorous  aversion,  the 
God  of  gods,  is  alike  venerated  by  the  adherents  and  the 
opponents  of  the  Papacy,  by  the  persecutors  and  the  per- 
secuted. Toward  the  end  of  his  reign  indeed,  it  appears, 
that  he  will  league  himself  with  the  false  prophet  or  the 
Papacif  ;  that  they  will  jointly  engage  in  a  bloody  war 
of  extirmination  under  the  pretext  of  religion  ;  and  that 
the  power  of  both  will  be  finally  broken  in  Palestine  be- 

opinions  were  more  nearly  allied  to  a  mystical  sort  of  fanaticism,  than  to  heresy. 
"  When  we  examine  matters  attentively,"  says  he,  "  we  find  that  even  their  enemies 
acknowledo^ed  the  sincerity  of  their  piety  ;  that  they  were  blackened  by  accusa- 
tions, which  were  e\ndently  false  ;  and  that  the  opinions,  for  which  they  were 
punished,  differ  widely  from  the  Manichean  system."  See  Mosheim's  Eccles.  Hist. 
Vol.  II.  p.  580,  581,  582 -Vol.  in.  p.  120-127.  See  also  Mede's  Works,  B. in. 
Revel.  Antichris.  p.  722,  and  Lowman's  Paraph,  p.  152 — 156. 

*  Matt.  xiii.  33.  f  See  Dan.  xi.  S6--39. 


§24 

tvveen  the  two  seas.*  But,  whether  this  religious  war 
will  be  undertaken  against  the  Protestants  or  theJez&sox 
hoth^  it  is  as  yet  future  ;  and  will  not  even  commence^  as 
Daniel  carefully  informs  us,  till  the  time  of  the  end,  or  till 
the  termination  of  the  1260  days.  Hence  it  certainly  can 
have  no  connection  with  the  persecutions  of  the  Papacij 
properlu  so  called :  for  the  papal  I'ittie  horn  was  to  wear 
out  the  saints  of  the  Most  High  until  a  time  and  times  and 
half  a  time^  and  the  faithful  zivitnesses  of  Christ  were  to 
prophesy  in  sackcloth  during  the  whole  term  of  the  1260 
daifs  ;  whereas  the  religious  extirminating  zoar  of  this  kingy 
against  whomsover  it  may  be  directed,  is  not  so  much  as 
to  hegin  till  the  verij  end  of  that  term.  The  men  of  un- 
derstandings or  the  icifnesses^  are  to  be  in  an  afflicted 
state  till  the  time  of  the  end  ;  consequently  their  ap- 
pointed period  of  persecution  is  before  the  time  of  the 
end,  and  ceases  at  the  time  of  the  end.  At  this  venj 
time  of  the  end  however  the  religious  war  of  the  king  will 
he fVst  undertaken  :  that  is  to  say,  the  war  will  com- 
7nence,  when  the  persecution  of  the  witnesses  shall  cease. 
Such  being  the  case,  the  war  of  the  king,  if  undertaken 
against  the  witnesses,  must  prove  unsuccessful :  and  ac- 
cordingly Daniel  specially  informs  us,  that  it  ivill  prove 
unsuccessful.  From  this  view  of  the  subject  we  have  a 
right  to  conclude,  that  the  sufferings  of  the  men  of  under- 
standing are  no  way  connected  with  the  impious  tyranny 
of  the  king.  Whence  it  will  of  course  follow,  since  all 
Daniel's  prophecies  are  strictltj  chrojiological,  and  since 
the  second  persecution  of  the  men  of  understanding  pecu- 
liarly relates  to  the  sufferings  of  the  protesiant  reformers, 
that  we  are  to  look  for  the  rise  of  this  king  not  before, 
but  cftcr,  the  era  oiilie  Reformation  :  and  therefore  that 
this  king,  whoever  he  may  be,  cannot  possibly  be  either 
the  Roman  emperor,  the  Pope,  or  the  impostor  Mohammed ; 
but  must  be  some  other  poxcer  perfectly  distinct  from 
them  ail. 

To  state  the  whole  argument  more  briefly  ;  the  events 
succeed  each  other  in  the  following  order.  In  the  3\st 
■verse  oi  the  Wth  chapter,  Daniel  predicts  the  desolation 

"   C'oncerxunj  this  religious  war  more  will  be  said  hereafter. 


225 

of  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans  :  in  the  32(/and  33d veyses^ 
the  persecutions  of  the  primitive  Christians  :  in  the  3itk 
verse,  the  conversion  of  the  Empire  under  Constantine  : 
and,  in  the  35th  verse,  the  papal  persecutions  of  the 
witnesses,  more  especially  that  which  took  place  at  the 
era  of  the  Reformation.*  After  having  thus  brought  us 
down  to  the  [6th  ceuturij,  he  next  proceeds  to  describe 
i\ie  c\vAX?LC\.ev  (ji  some  power,  which  he  represents  as  a 
monster  of  wickedness  and  impiety.  It  is  manifest 
therefore  from  the  preceding  order  of  events,  that  this 
power,  whatever  state  may  be  intended  by  it,  must  be 
expected  to  spring  up  at  some  indefinite  period  after 
the  Reformation,  although  before  the  time  of  the  end  if 
and  consequently,  that  all  states,  which  -Axo^e previous  to 
the  Reformation,  are  by  that  very  circumstance  exclud- 
ed from  having  any  connection  with  the  power  m  question. 
Perhaps  however  it  may  be  said,  that  there  must  be  a 
fallacy  in  the  objections  which  1  have  urged,  and  that 
they  certainly  cannot  be  solid  hawever  plausible  they 
may  appear,  because  one  part  of  the  king's  character, 
his  disregard  of  the  desire  of  women,  so  decidedly 
proves  him  to  be  that  complex  power,  which  neglected 
and  discouraged  marriage  both  in  the  East  and  in  the 
JVest,  which  at  first  prohibited  only  the  second  marriages 
of  the  clergy,  but  in  time  absolutely  restrained  thena. 
from  marrying  at  all,  that  it  is  a  vain  labour  to  seek  for 
ant/  power  that  has  arisen  after  the  Reformation,  to 
which  such  a  description  can  be  in  the  least  degree  ap- 
plicable. "  This,"  says  Bp.  Newton,  "  was  evidently  not 
regarding  the  desire  of  wives  or  conjugal  ajf'ection — So 

*  The  S2d,  33d,  34th,  and  35th,  verses  describe  three  successive  periods  of  tbd 
CJiurch,  which  exactly  coincide  with  the  three  periods  of  the  life  of  the  Roman 
beast  after  the  promulgation  of  Christianity,  his  death,  and  his  revi-ual.  The  32d 
and  33d  verses  describe  the  first  period ;  wliich  reaches  from  the  days  of  the 
Apostles  to  the  time  of  Constantine.  The  34th  describes  the  second  period  ,■  during 
which  the  beast  lay  dead,  and  which  reaches  from  the  time  of  Censtantine  to  the 
commencement  of  the  1260  years.  The  35th  describes  the  third  period ;  at  the  com- 
mencement of  which  the  beait  revived  by  relapsing  into  his  former  state  of  persecut- 
ing idolatry,  and  which  reaches  from  the  beginning  of  the  1 260  years  to  the  time  of  the 
end,  comprehending  the  -n-hole  of  the  1260  years,  although  in  treating  of  it  the  pro- 
phet peculiarly  describes  its  most  remarkable  era,  that  of  the  Reformation.  We  are 
plainly  taught  however  that  it  is  to  extend  to  the  time  of  the  end,  or  the  very  time 
when  tlie  expedition  of  the  luilful  king  commences.  Gomp.  Dan.  xi,  35,  40. 
t  See  Dan.  xi.  35,  40. 

VOL.  I.  29 


226 

much  did  the  power  here  described  magniiy  himselt  above 
ail,  even  God  himself,  by  contradicting  the  primary  law 
of  God  and  nature,  and  by  making  that  dishonourable, 
which  the  Scripture  hath  pronounced  honourable  in  all." 
Could  it  once  be  satisfactorily  proved,  that  the  disre- 
gm^d  of  the  desire  of  women^  mentioned  by  Daniel, 
means  the  same  thing  as  the  forbidding  to  marrij^  pre- 
dicted by  St.  Paul  as  one  of  the  subordinate  badges  of 
the  Apostacij^*  1  should  readily  allow,  that  this  would 
be  so  strong  an  argument  in  favour  of  Bp.  Newton's  in- 
terpretation as  justly  to  warrant  a  suspicion  that  there 
was  a  lurking  fallacy  in  the  objections  which  I  have 
brought  forward  :  but  1  can  find  no  just  grounds  for  sup- 
posing, that  such  is  really  the  case.  The  desire  of  wo- 
men does  not  signify  the  desire  to  have  zvomen  or  zvives  ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  that  lohich  women  or  wives  desire 
to  have.  That  such  is  the  meaning  of  the  expression  is 
sufficiently  manifest  from  the  uniform  and  unvarying 
phraseology  of  the  whole  Hebrew  Scriptures  :  at  least  I 
have  not  been  able  to  discover  a  single  passage  in  the  Old 
Testament,  wherein  the  word  desire^  when  constructed  as 
in  the  expression  under  consideration,  ever  signifies  a  zoish 
to  have  the  thing  imported  bij  the  substantive  with  which  it 
is  so  constructed.  Thus  the  desire  of  Israel  does  not 
mean  the  zs^ish  to  have  Israel,  but  that  zohich  Israel 
zoished  to  have,  namely  Saul  for  a  king  .-f  the  desire  of 
thy  soul  is  not  the  zi'ish  to  have  thy  soul,  but  that  zvhich 
thy  soul  wishes  to  have  :%  the  desire  of  the  heart  is  not 
the  zvish  to  have  the  heart,  but  that  zvhich  the  heart 
zvishes  to  have  /§  the  desire  of  the  zoicked  is  not  the 
wish  to  have  the  zoicked,  but  that  zvhich  the  wicked  zvish 
to  have  :  ||    the  desire  of  Ezekiel's  cyes^  is  not  surely 

*  1  Tim.  iv.  3.  f  1   Sam.  ix.  20.  \  1  Sam.  xxiii.  20, 

§  Psalm  X.  3.  xxi.  2.  ||  Psalm  cxii.  10. 

^  Mr.  Mede  has  been  peculiarly  unfortunate  in  his  choice  of  this,  text  to  support 
his  opinion,  which  is  similar  to  that  of  Bp.  Newton.  It  is  true,  that  the  desire  of 
Ezelhl's  eyes  Was  hh  iv'ife :  but  this  will  never  prove,  that  tie  desire  of  zvomen  means 
the  connubial  state  :  rather  indeed  the  very  reverse.  Had  Daniel  wished  to  represent 
the  king  as  disregarding  and  discouraging  marriage,  he  would  not  have  said  (if  we 
may  argue  at  least  from  anologj^)  he  shall  not  regard  the  desire  of  luomen,  because  he 
would  have  known  that  such  a  phrase  in  his  own  language  conveyed  quite  a  differ- 
ent idea ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  adopting  Ezekiel's  familiar  and  natural  mode  of 
fxpression,  he   would  have  said  he  shall  not  regard  the  desire  of  mens  eyes.     CiceroV 


227 

the  wish  to  have  his  eyes  but  that  zvhich  his  er/es  desired, 
namely  his  inife  ;*  and  thus  not  to  weary  the  reader 
with  a  long-  detail  of  instances, 'Me  desire  of  all  nations 
is  not  tJie  wish  to  be  master  of  all  nations^  but  that  ~j^hich 
all  nations  desire^  even  the  promised  Messiah.'^  Argu- 
ing then  from  the  analogy  of  idiom,  we  must  conclude, 
that  the  desire  of  zvomen  does  not  mean,  as  Bp.  Newton 
and  ]Mr.  Mede  suppose,  the  desire  of  hating  icomen  or 
wives,  but  t/iat  which  women  or  zvives  desire  to  have.% 
The  propriety  of  such  an  explanation  of  the  phrase  is  yet 
further  evident  from  the  very  context  with  which  it  is 
joined.  Daniel  is  speaking  of  objects  of  religions  zvor- 
ship,  true  and  false,  all  of  which  this  king  was  alike  to 
disregard  :  and,  among  these  objects,  he  was  to  pay  as 
little  regard  to  one  which  the  prophet  intitles  the  desire 
of  women,  as  to  any  of  the  others.  "  The  king  shall 
magnify  himself  above  everij  god."  After  this  general 
assertion,  Daniel  descends  to  particularise  and  specify 
what  he  meant  to  include  under  the  expression  o^  every 
god.  "  He  shall  speak  marvellous  things  against  the 
God  of  gods  ; — neither  shall  he  regard  the  god  of  his 
fathers,  nor  the  desire  of  women,  nor"  (a  repetition  of 
the  first  general  assertion)  "  regard  any  god  :  for  he 
shall  magnify  himself  above  all  :"  that  is,  above  all  the 
objects  of  worship  which  Daniel  had  just  specified  ; 
namely,  the  God  of  gods,  the  god  of  his  fathers,  the  de- 
sire of  women,  and  in  short,  every  god.  Such  appears 
to  be  the  natural  and  obvious  meaning  of  the  passage  ; 
and  it  perfectly  accords  with  the  interpretation  of  the 
phrase  the  desire  of  VDomen,  which  I  have  deduced  from 
the  analogy  of  other  similarly  constructed  phrases. 

affectionate  address,  to  his  wife,  which  Mr.  Mede  likewise  adduces,  En  mea  lux, 
meum  desiderium  !  is  as  little  applicable  to  the  case  in  point  as  the  text  from  Ezekiel. 
The  desire  of  Cicero  Was  not  his  love  of  himself,  but  of  bis  "wife :  she  was  tvhat  his  eyes 
^iesired,  not  bis  own  person.     See  Mede's  Apostacy  of  the  latter  times,  Part  I.  Chap.  1 6. 

*  Ezek.  xxiv.  16.  f  Haggaiii.  7. 

\  The  ingenious  Mr.  Dimock  comes  so  very  near  the  right  interpretation  of  this 
passage,  that  it  is  a  matter  of  wonder  to  me  how  he  could  have  missed  it.  He 
proposes  an  alteration  of  the  text ;  and,  instead  of  c^tPJ  ivomen,  would  read  C«13 
nations  :  SO  that  by  the  desire  of  nations  might  be  meant  Christ.  Finding  however, 
that  his  proposed  alteration  is  unsupported  by  any  authority,  he  does  not  venture 
to  insist  upon  it ;  but  allows,  that  the  present  readmg  is  capable  of  good  sense.  See 
Wintle's  Version  of  Daniel  in  loc. 


298 

The  question  then  is,  -what  object  of  religious  ivorship 
is  pointed  out  by  the  desire  of  zoo  in  en  /  To  this  1  readily 
answer  the  Messiah  ;  for  the  title  is  perfectly  applicable 
to  him^   and   totally  inap|)licable   to  every  other   person. 
The   original  prediction  of  the  promised  seed  was  deliv- 
ered  specially   to  Eve.       It  was   her  seed,   that  was  to 
bruise  the  head  of  the  serpent,  noi  Adam's.     To  the  ad- 
vent of  this  seed  she  impatiently  looked  forward  :  and, 
such  was   her  eager  desire,  that,    upon  the   birth  of  her 
first  chiid,  forgetting  that  Cain  was  Adam's  seed  no  less 
than  her  own  ;  she  joyfully  exclaimed,  "/  have  gotten 
a  man,  even  Jehovah  himsef^'*  I  hold  in  my  arms  the 
•promised  Messiah.     To  the  subsequent  limitation  of  this 
promise  to  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  successively,  we 
must  attribute   the  vehement  desire.,'^  which  Sarah,  Re- 
bekah,   and  Rachel,   all  felt  to  have   children  :  and  the 
same  cause  will   satisfactorily  account   for  the  excessive 
horror  which  all   the  Israelitish   women   entertained  of 
barrenness.     "  Let  me  go  up  and  down   the  mountains, 
and  bewail  my  virginity,"  w^as  the  mournful  language  of 
Jephthah's  daughter,  when  doomed  by  her  father's  vow 
to  perpetual  celibacy  :  "  the  Lord   hath  taken   away  my 
reproach   among  men,"  was  the  joyful  exclamation  of 
Rachel  and  Elisabeth  :  "  hail  thou,  that  art  highly  favour- 
ed,  the  Lord  is  with  thee,   blessed   art  thou  among  wo- 
men," was  the   salutation  of  the  angel  to  the  mother  of 
the  Saviour  of  mankind  ;  the  desire  indeed  of  all  nations., 
but,  in  a   peculiar  and  mysterious   sense,   the  desire  of 
li'omen.,  inasmuch  as  he  was  to  be  born  by  the  power  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  of  a  pure  virgin. :{: 

*   Heb.  mrr*  nx  the  Lord  himiclf. 

f  It  is  probably  in  allusion  to  this  iiebcmfnt  desire  of  the  promised  seed,  that  Hosea 
terms  children  D:'ja  "nana  ibc:  dairable  things  of  their  (the  Ephraimitish  women's) 
•wombs.    Hos.  ix.  1  6. 

\  See  Dr.  Allix's  Remarks  on  Scripture.  It  is  there  satisfactorily  proved,  that  it 
was  the  studied  design  of  the  Almighty,  by  so  frequently  preferring  the  younger 
brother  to  the  elder,  to  keep  alive  the  expectation  of  the  world  respecting  the  desire 
of  all  nations ,  or,  as  I  conceive  Daniel  to  term  the  same  divine  personage,  the  desire  of 
•women.  To  this  expectation  Dr.  Allix  refers,  as  I  have  done  after  him,  the  -violent 
desire  which  all  the  Hebrew  women  felt  to  have  children  :  and,  upon  the  same  prin- 
ciple he  accounts  for  the  premeditated  incest  of  the  daughters  of  Lot,  who  was  of 
the  family  of  the  Hebrews  and  of  the  line  of  Shem. 

If  it  be  objected  to  this  interpretation  of  the  desire  of  ivomen,  that  the  phrase  occurs 
mly  once  in  the  whole  Bible  ;  and  that,  if  it  do  mean  Christ,  it  stands  alone,  a  solitary 


229 

It  appears  then,  that  the  king' s  disregard  of  the  desire 
of  li'omeiu  so  far  from  proving  him  to  be  the  Pope  or  the 
(Jonstantinopolitan  Emperor^  decidedly  shews,  that  he 
cannot  possibly  be  either  of  them  :  tor,  amidst  all  the 
abominations  of  tJie  Papacy^  the  fLiiidauiental  article  of 
the  proper  divinity  of  our  Lord  was  faithfully  preserved  ; 
and,  although  it  was  impugned  in  the  East  by  the  tur- 
bulent and  political  disciples  of  Arius,  God  was  pleased 
to  raise  up  then,  as  he  has  since  done  in  these  our  days, 
able  and  resolute  defenders  of  it.  Some  indeed  of  the 
Eastern  Emperors  were  infected  with  Arianism  :  yet  1 
know  not  how  they  can  be  said  on  that  account  to  have 
disregarded  tJie  desire  of  icoinot.  They  doubtless  held 
heretical  notions  respecting  him  ;  but  they  never  entirely 
blotted  the  very  name  o{ Christ  from  their  religious  creed. 

It  may  perhaps  nevertheless  be  said,  that  that  part  of 
the  king's  character,  which  respects  his  paying  honour  to 
a  strange  God  and  to  Mahuzzim  or  tutelary  deities,  ac- 
cords very  exactly  with  the  papal  loorship  of  saints  and 
angels :  and  Mr.  Mede  will  add,  that  the  strange  ox  for- 
eign god  is  certainly  Christ,  whom  the  Romans  adored, 
when  they  had  begun  to  disregard  the  false  gods  of  their 
fathers.  Such  an  interpretation  as  this,  if  we  adopt  the 
scheme  as  proposed  by  Mr.  Mede,  is  much  too  vague  to 
be  satisfactory.  Supposing  tlie  king  to  mean  the  Roman 
empire  from  the  days  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  the  wor- 
ship of  a  foreign  god  and  tntelarif  deities  will  be  no  less 
characteristic  o^  pagan,  than  o^ papal,  Rome.  The  Ro- 
man custom  of  naturalizing  the  gods  of  all  the  countries 
which  they  subdued  is  well  known  :  how  are  we  to  de- 
cide then,  upon  Mr.  Mede's  scheme,  whether  the  wor- 
ship of  the  foreign  god  ought  to  be  explained  as  relating 
to  Rome  pagan,  or  to  Rome  papal  I  The  scheme,  as  pro- 

and  insulated  title  of  the  Messiah  :  I  readily  answer,  that  the  Yery  same  objection  ap- 
plies to  the  universally  received  interpretation  of  the  phrase  thi;  desire  nf  all  nations. 
This  phrase,  like  its  parallel  phrase  in  the  book  of  Daniel,  occurs  only  once  in  the 
whole  Bible  :  but  its  single  occurrence  was  never  thought  to  be  any  reason,  why  it 
should  not  be  descriptive  of  the  Saviour.  Haggai  speaks  of  the  desire  of  all  nations  as 
being  a  person  :  Daniel  also  speaks  of  the  desire  of  tvomen  as  being  a  person  mentioning 
him  among  various  objects  of  worship,  true  and  false,  all  of  whom  the  king  was  alike 
to  disregard.  The  self-same  word  mrn  is  used  in  both  passages,  and  pointed  pre- 
cisely in  the  same  manner.  Whence  we  may  naturally  suppose,  that  it  is  used  in  the 
same  sense.  la  short,  the  two  passages  appear  to  me  to  be  perfectly  parallel  to  eac!\ 
other. 


230 

posed  by  Bp.  Newton,  is  not  indeed  liable  to  this  uncer- 
tainty, because  he  makes  the  prophecy  of  the  king  com- 
mence with  the  age  of  Constant'me.  Nevertheless  the 
coincidence  oi  the  king's  character  with  that  of  tlie  Pope 
in  this  point  is  not  sufficient  to  establish  their  identity, 
when  so  many  objections  present  themselves  to  such  an 
opinion.  The  word  Mahuzzim  means  tutelary  deifies  ; 
or,  as  Bp.  Newton  translates  it,  "  protectors^  defenders^ 
and  guardians.'^  The  term  therefore  may  be  used  prop- 
erly enough  to  describe  saints  and  angels,  when  consid- 
ered in  the  light  that  the  Papists  consider  them  in  :  but 
there  is  no  reason  why  it  should  be  confined  cxclusivehf 
to  them  :  it  may  equally  signify  tutelanj  demi-gods  of 
any  other  description. 

I  know,  that  both  Mr.  Mede  and  Bp.  Newton  have 
maintained,  thatM^  man  of  sin  is  the  exact  transcript  of 
the  king  predicted  by  Daniel  ;  and  even  that  St.  Paul, 
when  he  wrote  to  the  Thessalonians,  had  this  very  pro- 
phecy in  his  eye.  I  can  discover  however  no  sort  of  re- 
semblance between  \\\e\n,  G\i\\ex  chronological  ox  circum- 
stantial. It  is  said  indeed,  that  the  king  should  speak 
marvellous  things  against  the  God  of  gods,  and  should 
magnify  himself  above  every  god  ;  and  it  is  likewise  said, 
that  the  man  ofsm  should  oppose  and  exalt  himself  above 
every  one  that  is  called  god,  or  that  is  worshipped : 
whence  it  might  appear  at  the  first  sight,  that  in  this 
particular  at  least  there  was  a  strong  resemblance  be- 
tween their  characters.  But  the  resemblance  is  altogeth- 
er imaginary,  and  not  real.  The  king  was  to  magnify 
himself  above  all  gods,  both  true  and  false  :  whereas  the 
man  of  sin  was  only  to  exalt  himself  above  every  one 
that  is  called  god  or  august,  in  other  words  (as  Bp.  New- 
ton justly  observes),  those  mere  earthly  gods  (as  they 
are  frequently  termed  in  Scripture),  kings  and  emperors.* 
Both  the  man  of  sin  indeed  and  the  king  were  to  be  no- 
torious enemies  of  the  true  God  and  his  religion,  a  point 
in  which  all  the  wicked  agree  ;  but  they  were  to  be  his 

*  "  He  opposet'n  and exalteth  himself  aUi<e  all,  in  roiux,  above  CVery  one,  that  h  call- 
ed god  or  that  is  ■worshipped,  »  aiBac fj..i  alluding  to  the  title  of  the  Roman  emperors, 
o-fSatr'oj  august  or  venerable.  He  shall  oppose  and  exalt  himself,  not  only  above  in- 
ferior magistrates,  who  are  sometimes  called  gods  in  holy  writj  but  even  above  the 
greatest  emperors."     Bp.  Newton's  Dissert.  XilL 


231 

enemies  in  two  modes  as  different  from  each  other,  as 
it  is  almost  possible  to  conceive.  The  king  was  to  speak 
marvelloiis  things  against  the  God  of  gods  ;  to  magnify 
himself  above  every  god;  to  regard  neither  the  god  of 
his  fathers,  nor  the  Desire  of  women,  nor  any  other  god. 
These  expressions,  than  which  nothing  can  be  at  once 
more  definite  and  more  comprehensive,  plainly  intimate, 
that  the  king  should  make  an  open  and  undisguised  pro- 
fession of  atheism.  He  should  neither  regard  the  true 
God,  nor  any  false  god ;  neither  the  god  of  his  fathers 
(whoever  his  fathers  were),  nor  Messiah  the  Desire  of 
women,  nor  any  other  god  :  but  he  should  at  once  speak 
marvellous  things  against  the  God  of  gods,  aiid  magnify 
himself  above  all  the  vanities  of  the  Gentiles.  Now  it 
is  utterly  impossible  to  conceive,  how  such  strong,  such 
varied,  and  yet  such  determinate,  language  could  ever 
have  been  intended  to  describe  the  conduct  o/"Me  Po/>^^. 
They  doubtless,  in  strict  harmony  with  the  prophecy  of 
the  man  of  sin,  "  did  exalt  themselves  above  all  laws  di- 
vine and  human,  dispense  with  the  most  solemn  and  sa- 
cred obligations,  and  in  many  respects  enjoin  what  God 
had  forbidden,  and  forbid  what  God  had  commanded." 
They  have  moreover,  still  in  harmony  with  the  prophecy, 
advanced  a  step  further;  have  blasphemously  assumed 
the  divine  titles  and  attributes ;  and  have  sat  as  God  in 
the  very  temple  of  God.  But,  when  we  consider  the 
manner  in  which  they  thus  conducted  themselves,  we 
shall  discover  no  great  resemblance  between  their  behav- 
iour and  that  of  the  king  predicted  by  Daniel.  Instead 
of  speaking  marvellous  things  against  the  God  of  gods  ;* 
they  professed  to  do  all  to  his  honour  and  glory.  Instead 
of  disowning  his  authority  ;  they  affected,  with  much 
importunity,  to  act  in  his  name.  Instead  of  throwing 
off  their  allegiance  to  the  Desire  of  zoomen,  and  totally 

*  The  papal  little  horn  is  said  in  our  translation  to  speak  great  words  against  the 
Most  High  :  but,  as  I  have  already  observed,  the  passage  w^hen  rendered  hterally 
imports,  that  the  little  horn  shall  speak  great  words  by  the  side  of  the  Most  High, 
placing  his  decrees  upon  an  equality  with  Scripture,  and  shewing  himself  in  the 
temple  of  God  that  he  is  God.  The  king,  on  the  contrary,  is  represented  by  Daniel 
as  speaking  marvellous  things  D^bx  bx  "j'r  against,  or  above,  the  God  of  gods.  Thus 
accurately  has  Daniel  drawn  the  line  of  distinction  between  these  tivo  poivers,  by  the 
use  of  tivo  entirely  different  expressions,  which  our  translators  have  injudiciously  con'- 
founded  together  by  rendering  them  as  if  they  were  in  the  original  one  and  lh; 
mme  expression. 


232 

disregarding  bim  ;  they  delighted  to  style  themselves  the 
Vicar  of  Christy  the  husband  of  the  Churchy  the  represent- 
ative of  God  upon  earth,  the  imniedidte  dele <f ate  of  heav- 
en. Highly  tyrannical  as  their  actions  were,  and  utter- 
ly offensive  in  the  eyes  of  God  ;  still  they  were  not  done 
professed hf  to  affront  him  to  his  face.  The  thin  garb  of 
piety  with  which  they  were  clothed,  but  ill  concealed 
their  native  deformity  ;  yet,  throughout  all  the  papal  per- 
secutions, the  saints  of  God  were  never  put  to  death  as 
the  saints  of  God,  but  as  his  enemies.  I  he  preaching 
of  the  bloody  crusades  against  the  VValdenses  was  term- 
ed, in  a  perverted  sense  indeed,  the  preaching  oj  the  cross 
of  Christ :  Pope  Martin  the  fifth  exhorted  the  Emperor, 
and  the  other  European  sovereigns,  to  extirpate  heretics, 
b//  the  zi)oimds  of  Christ  and  hij  the  salvation  of  Christ  : 
and  even  the  diabolical  murders  of  the  Inquisition  are 
dignified  with  the  Christian  appellation  of  acts  of  faith.* 

Let  us  however  compare  the  character  of  the  man  of 
sin  with  that  of  the  king,  and  we  shall  find  that  their  im- 
agined resemblance  will  rapidly  fade  away,  till  there  be 
scarcely  any  similarity  between  the  two  portraits. 

The  man  of  sin  was  to  be  revealed,  when  he  that  let- 
ted, by  which  the  general  tradition  of  the  Church  has  al- 
ways understood  the  imperial aitthoritii  in  Rome,  was  tak- 
en out  of  the  way  :  the  king  was  not  to  make  his  appear- 
ance till  after  the  second  or  papal  persecution  of  the  men 
of  understanding  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation.  The 
man  of  sin  was  to  cause  himself  to  be  worshipped  in  the 
temple  of  God  :  the  king  was  to  venerate  a  foreign  god 
and  along  with  him  certain  tutelarij  deities  ;  no  mention 
is  made  of  his  causing  himself  io  be  worshipped.  The 
man  of  sin  was  to  work  pretended  miracles  :  no  hint  is 
given,  that  the  king  should  so  niucb  as  even  lay  claim  to 
supernatural  powers.  So  again  :  it  is  said,  that  the  king 
should  divide  the  land  among  the  champions  of  his  tute- 
lary deities  for  a  price :  no  similar  action  is  ascribed  to 
the  man  of  sin,  nor  was  ever  performed  by  the  Pope.\ 

*  Auto  da  Fe. 
f   Mr.  Mede  explains  t/.m  dhidirg  of  the  land  by   the  liner  to   mean,  that  bis  tutelary 
gods  should  ha've   dijj'erfr.t  kingdoms  assigned  to  them  to  preside    e-ver.     "  St.   George   sliaR 
have  England ;  St.  Andrew,  Scotland ;    St.  Denis,  France ;  St.  James,  Spain ;  St. 


233 

The  kins;  was  to  be  engaged  in  wars  with  the  kings  of  the 
South  and  the  North  :  here  the  parallel  entirely  fails  ;  no 
similar  exploits  of  the  man  of  sin  are  predicted.  Bp.  Mew- 
ton  therefore  is  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  the  expedi- 
ent of  making  the  king,  not  only  the  Western  Pope^  but 
likewise  the  Eastern  Emperor.  Still  however  even  this 
sudden  transition  is  insufficient :  for  the  predicted  wars, 
which  he  applies  to  the  Saracenic  and  Turkish  invasions 
of  the  Empire,  are  to  take  place  at  the  time  of  the  end,  or 
at  the  close  of  the  \^60  years  ;  and  that  time  is  not  yet 
come.  Surely  then,  with  so  great  a  discrepance  of  char- 
acter both  chronological  and  circumstantial,  the  man  of 
sin  can  scarcely  have  been  designed  to  represent  the  same 
poii'er  as  the  king.  The  man  of  sin  however  has,  1  think, 
been  amply  shewn  by  the  Bishop  himself  to  be  the  Pope. 
The  natural  conclusion  therefore  is,  that  the  king  cannot 
have  any  connection  with  the  Pope,  but  must  prefigure 
some  entireltj  different  po-d^er. 

Mr.  Ketfs  mode  of  interpreting  this  prophecy  is  liable 
to  the  very  same  objection,  as  his  method  of  explaining 

Mark,  Venice ;  and  bear  rule  as  presidents  and  patrons  of  their  several  countries." 
(Apost.  of  the  latter  times  Part  I.  Chap,  xvii.)  Bp.  Ne"5vton  rejects  this  explana- 
tion ;  and  supposes  (very  justly,  I  think,)  that  the  land  was  to  be  divided  not  among 
the  Mahuzzim,  but  among  the  champions  of  the  Mabuzzim.  Conceiving  however, 
agreeably  to  his  general  plan  of  exposition,  that  the  Mahuzzim  mean  the  tutelary  saints 
and  angels  of  Popery,  he  of  course  understands  their  champions  to  be  the  Romish  Hierar- 
chy.     Hence   he   conjectures,    that    the    dividing  of  the  land  among  the  champions    cf  the 

Mahuzzim  means,  "  that  they  have  been  honoured,  and  reverenced,  and  almost 
adored,  in  former  ages ;  that  their  authority  and  jurisdiction  have  extended  over 
the  purses  and  consciences  of  men ;  that  thev  have  been  enriched  with  noble 
buildings  and  large  endowments,  and  have  had  the  choicest  of  the  lands  appro- 
priated for  church-lands."  (Dissert,  xvii.)  Both  Mr.  Mede  and  Bishop  Newton 
seem  to  have  forgotten  a  -very  material  ivord  in  this  part  of  the  prophecy.  The  land 
was  not  only  to  be  divided,  but  it  was  to  be  divided  for  a  price.  Our  translation 
reads  fir  gain,  but  in  the  margin  it  retains  the  proper  import  of  the  original  for  a 
price.  Now,  in  whatever  manner  the  Pope  might  contrive  to  divide  the  land  among 
his  adherents,  he  certainly  did  not  divide  it  among  them /or  a  price  :  that  is  to  say, 
having  an  equivalent  paid  for  value  received.  Ke  induced  the  laity  to  make  large  grants 
of  their  lands  to  the  Church,  and  thus  in  some  sort  may  perhaps  be  said  to  have  divid- 
ed the  land  among  the  champions  of  Mahuzzim  ;  but  I  much  doubt  whether  it  can  be 
shewn,  that  he  ever  received  any  price  from  those  supposed  champions  of  Mahuzzim 
for  thus  dividing  the  land  among  them.  The  word  i^na,  here  used,  denotes  some- 
thing given  in  exchange,  the  price  or  value  of  a  thing.  Hence  it  is  not  enough  for  the 
ting  merely  to  have  divided  the  land,  if  that  king  mean  the  Pope ;  it  must  be  shewn  that 
he  has  divided  the  land  for  value  received.  "  And  the  king  said  unto  Araunah,  Nay,  but 
I  will  surely  buy  it  of  thee  at  a  price :  neither  will  1  offer  burnt  offerings  unto  the 
Lord  my  God  of  that  ivhich  cost  me  nothing.  So  David  bought  the  threshing  floor  and 
the  oxen  fir  fifty  shekels  of  silver."  (2  Sam.  xxiv.  24.)  The  word,  here  used  to  ex- 
press a  price,  is  "i^lT;. 

VOL.    I.  .^0 


S34< 

the  histories  of  the  two  little  horns ;  a  needless  perplex- 
ity  and  contusion.  A  chronological  prophecy  is,  from  its 
very  nature,  absolutely  incapable  of  «  double  accomplish- 
ment. The  series  of  events,  which  such  a  prophecy  fore- 
tells, succeed  each  other  in  the  sanne  regular  order  as 
when  subsequently  detailed  in  history  :  hence  it  is  obvi- 
ously impossible^  that  any  particular  link  in  the  chain 
should  be  what  Mr.  Kett  terms  a  double  link  *  lithe 
abomination  of  desolation^  predicted  in  the  present  proph- 
ecy, relate  to  the  sacking  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans^ 
(and  that  it  does^  cannot  be  doubted)  every  things  that  is 
mentioned  after  it,  must  necessarily  be  poste?^ior  to  that 
event ;  and,  as  such,  can  have  no  primary  relation,  as 
Mr.  Kett  supposes,  to  the  times  of  the  Maccabees  and  An- 
iiochus  Epiphanes,  On  the  same  grounds,  we  may  safe- 
ly venture  to  assert,  that  it  is  utterly  incompatible  with 
the  nature  oi  a  prof essedly  historico-chronological proph- 
ecy, that  the  king,  predicted  in  Daniel's  last  vision,  should 
be  not  only  the  Papucij,  but  a  double  type  of  Antichrist, 
either  Infidel  or  Mohammedan,  likewise. •]*  Each  link  in 
a  chain  of  historical  jwedictions  must  be  referred  to  one 
corresponding  event,  and  only  one  ;  each  of  the  little 
horns  therefore,  and  the  king  zvho  i0as  to  exalt  himself 
above  everij  god,  must  be  understood  as  respectively  sym- 
bolizing a  single  power.  I  have  already  endeavoured  to 
prove,  that  the  two  horns  were  designed  by  the  spirit  of 
God  to  typify  the  Papal  and  Mohammedan  apostacies  : 
I  shall  now  attempt  to  ascertain  what  state  is  predicted 
under  the  character  of  the  king. 

*  Hist,  the  Interi^.  Vol.  i.  p.  363. 

■{•  1  cannot  find,  that  Mr.  Kett  any  where  attempts  to  sheiu,  that  the  ting  is  a  doulk 
fype  of  Antichrist.  He  dwells  strongly  upon  his  being  the  Po^e  ;  but  he  advances  the 
idea  of  his  being  likewise  a  double  type,  rather  as  a  random  conjecture,  than  as  a  fact 
which  he  designed  to  prove.  (See  Vol.  i.  p.  368,  374,  and  Vol.  ii.  p.  301,  302.) 
Accordingly,  in  the  table  of  contents  to  his  second  volume,  he  speaks  of  the  king  as 
being  solely  X)\e.  papal poiver  ;  of  the  little  horn  of  the  he-goat,  2&  being  solely  the  Mo- 
hammedan poicer  ;  and  of  the  little  horn  of  the  fourth  beast,  as  being  solely  the  Infidel 
po'wer.  I  should  be  sorry  to  appear  captious  in  these  remarks  upon  Mr.  Kelt's  work, 
which  contains  some  very  valuable  and  important  matter  :  but  I  certainly  am  not 
conscious,  that  I  have  wilfully  at  least  misrepresented  the  sentiments  of  its  respect- 
able author.  An  attentive  perusal  of  his  treatise,  many  times  repeated,  induces  me 
to  hope  that  I  have  not  mistaken  his  meaning  :  and,  in  order  that  the  reader  may 
be  able  satisfactorily  to  follow  me  in  my  observations,  I  have  carefully  given  him  ac- 
curate references  to  the  third  edition  of  that  work.  The  bane  of  Mr.  Kelt's  inter- 
pretation of  the  prophecies  of  Daniel  is  his  scheme  of  primary,  secondary,  and 
c\tn  ultimate,  accomplishments  of  one  and  the  same  chronological  prediction- 


235 

I.    The  same  chronological  series  of  events,  which 
shewed  iis,  1  had  almost  said  to  demonstration^  that  this 
formidable  power  cannot  be  either  Popery   or  Mohain- 
medism^  will  lead  us,  in  these  last  daijs^  to  point  out  with 
considerable  precision  the  state  intended  by  it.     We  have 
seen,  that  we  are  to  look  for  the  rise  of  this  impious  ty- 
rant Yz/^er  the  reformation  :   and,  unless  1  be  much  mis- 
taken   in   the  preceding  remarks   upon   the  numbers  of 
Daniel  and  St,  John,   we   are  now  removed   but   little 
more  than  si.rty  ifears  from  the  end  of  the  great   period 
of  the  \.26l) prophetic  days  :  consequently   it  is  but  rea- 
sonable to  conclude,  that  we  are  now  living,  not  merely 
in  the  latter  times^  but  in  the  last  times.     Existing  facts 
amply  tend  to  prove,  that  this  conjecture  is  but  too  well 
founded.*     The   superstition   of  the  latter  days  is  now 
supported,  rather  from  motives  of  policy,  than  of  relig- 
ion.f      The  distinguishing  feature  of  the  present  age  is 
certainly  not  that  of  giving  heed  to  seducing  spirits,  and 
doctrines  of  tutelary   saints  ;    of  speaking  religious  lies 
in  pious  hypocrisy  ;    of  forbidding  to  marry,  and  com- 
manding to  abstain  from   meats  ;    of   attending   to  old 
"wives^  fables,  and  bodily  mortifications  ;    of  worshipping 
idols  of  gold,  and  silver,  and  brass,  and  stone,  and  wood  ; 
and  of  voluntary  humiliation  in  the  zvorship  of  angels. 
All  these  mummeries   of  the  latter  days  are  indeed  still 
in  existence,  and  will  continue  to  be  so  to  the  end  of  the 
126u  years  :  but  they  no  longer,  as  formerly,  constitute 
the  distinguishing  feature  of  the  age.     It  is  an  equally 
evident  truth,  that  the  impieties  of  the  last  times  have  for 
some  years  been  the  most  prominent  characteristic  of  the 
present  period.     Perilous  times  are  come  :  men  are  now 
professedly  lovers  of  their  own  selves  ;    insatiably  covet- 
ous of  the  territories  of  their  neighbours  ;  boasters,  proud^ 
blasphemers  ;  disobedient  even  by  system :|:  to  their  par- 

*  I  mean  the  conjecture,  that  -zve  are  li-oing  in  the  last  days.  This  is  proved  by  ex- 
isting facts,  whether  the  year  606  be  the  proper  date  of  the  1260  years-,  or  not. 

f  Such,  I  doubt  not,  will  be  the  case  with  the  lings  holy  war  at  the  time  of  the  end. 
Religion  will  be  the  pretext ;  hence  his  union  v/'ith  the  false  prophet  :  but  the  rfa^ 
cause  will  be  the  crooked  policy  of  an  insatiable  ambition. 

\  "  The  command  to  love  one's  parents  is  more  the  work  of  education  thac 
of  nature."    Barruel. 


236 

ents  ;  unthankful.,  imliohj^  xmthout  natural  affection  ,-* 
truce-breakers.,  false  accusers.,'^  incontinent.,  fierce.,  de- 
spisers  of  those  that  are  good ;  traitors.,  headij^  high-mind- 
ed ;  lovers  of  pleasures  more  than  lovers  of  God  ;  hav- 
ing a  form  of  godliness  hut  denying  the  poztDer  thereof  ;\ 
creeping  into  houses.,  and  leading  captive  sillij  women  ,§ 
led  awaij  with  divers  lusts ;  ever  learnings  and  never  able 
to  come  to  the  knonvledge  of  the  truth  ;\\  resisters  of  the 
truth  ;  men  of  corrupt  minds  ;  reprobate  concerning  the 
faith  ;•[[  scoffers.,  HHilking  after  their  own  lusts,  and  say- 
ing. Where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming  /  imllhiglij  igno- 
rant of  the  tremendous  catastrophe  of  the  deluge  ;** 

*  One  of  the  grand  doctrines  of  modem  philosophy  is,  that  to  a  certain  abstract 
idea,  a  sort  of  remote  political  good,  all  the  feelings  of  natural  affection  are  without 
scruple  to  be  sacrificed. 

f  The  public  papers,  which  teem  with  the  lying  accusations  of  the  French  a- 
gainst  all  whom  they  cannot  subdue,  particularly  England,  are  a  sufficient  proof 
of  the  accuracy  of  this  part  of  the  description. 

\  See  the  initiatory  discourse  of  the  president  of  the  Illuminati.  (Barruel,  Vol. 
iii.  p.  164.  and  Kett,  Vol.  ii.  p.  178.)  "  Jesus  Christ,  our  grand  and  ever  celebrated 
master,  appeared  in  an  age  when  corruption  was  universal — He  supported  his  doc- 
trines by  an  innocent  life.,  and  sealed  them  ivith  his  blood"  So  much  for  their  form  of 
godliness.  "  All  ideas  of  justice  and  injustice,  of  virtue  and  vice,  of  glory  and  infa- 
my, are  purely  arbitrary,  and  dependent  on  custom — conscience  and  remorse  are 
nothing  but  the  foresight  of  those  physical  penalties  to  which  crimes  expose  us. 
The  man,  who  is  above  the  law,  can  commit  without  remorse  the  dishonest  act  that 
may  serve  his  purpose  —The  fear  of  God,  so  far  from  being  the  beginning  of  wisdom, 
would  be  the  begiiming  of  folly — Modesty  is  only  an  invention  of  refined  voluptu- 
ousness— Virtue  and  honesty,  with  regard  to  individuals,  is  no  more  than  the  habit  of 
actions  personally  advantageous  ;  and  self-interest  is  the  sole  scale,  by  which  the  ac- 
tions of  men  can  be  measured.  Sublime  virtue,  and  enlightened  wisdom,  are  only 
the  fruits  of  those  passions  called  folly."     So  much  for  \}ci€\T poiver  of  godliness. 

§  "  There  is  no  way,"  says  the  miscreant  that  founded  the  diabolical  sect  of  the  II- 
himinati,  "  of  influencing  men  so  powerfully  as  by  means  of  the  women.  These 
should  therefore  be  our  chiel  study.  We  should  insinuate  ourselves  into  their  good  opinion, 
give  them  hints  of  emancipation  from  the  tyranny  of  public  opinion,  and  of  standing 
up  for  themselves.  It  will  be  an  immense  relief  to  their  enslaved  minds  to  be  freed 
from  any  one  bond  of  restraint ;  and  it  will  fire  them  the  more,  and  cause  them  to 
work  for  us  with  zeal,  without  knowing  that  they  do  so."  There  was  moreover  an- 
other very  weighty  reason  with  that  son  of  perdition  for  thus  labouring  to  lead  cap- 
ii-je  silly  ivomen  :  "  This  association  might  serve  to  gratify  those  brethren,  who  had 
a  turn  for  sensual  pleasure." 

II  See  the  x'arious  conflicting  opinions  of  those  wretched  mock  philosophers,  Hume, 
Shaftesbury,  Bolingbroke,  Voltaire,  Rousseau,  and  Frederick  uf  Prussia.  Kett,  Vol. 
ii.  p.  146,  147,  148,  149. 

f  "  We  cannot  know,  wliether  a  God  really  exists,  or  whether  there  is  the  smallest 
diflference  between  good  and  evil,  or  vice  and  virtue  —The  immortality  of  the  soul, 
so  far  from  stimulating  man  to  the  practice  of  virtue,  is  nothing  but  a  barbarous, 
desperate,  fatal  tenet — Jesus  Christ,  the  son  of  the  true  God,  was  an  impostor — Crush 
the  wretch — Human  reason  is  the  only  supreme  God."     Barruel  passim. 

**  For  this  purpose  the  bowels  of  the  earth  were  industriously  ransacked  by  the 
gupils  of  Voltaire  ;  and  various  geological  systems,  rivalling  each  other  in  laborious 


237 

denying  the  Lord  that  bought  them  :  indurinp:  mami  to 
follow  their  pernicious  wc/i/s,  bif  reason  of  ulioui  He  wmj 
of  ti'uth  shall  be  evil  spuken  of ;  xcalking  ujter  the  Jiesli 
in  the  lust  of  uncleamiess  ;  despising  government  ;  pre- 
sumptuous, self  K'illed,  not  afraid  to  speak  evil  oj  dig- 
nities ;  having  eijes  full  of  adultery  ;  beguiling  unstable 
souls  ;  speaking  great  szcelling  zvords  of  vanitij  ;  allur- 
i??i(,  through  the  lusts  oj  the  fleshy  those  that  xvete  clean- 
escaped  from  the  error  of  the  papal  Apostacy  ;*  promis- 
ing them  iibe)  ty,  zvhile  they  themselves  are  the  servants 
of  corruption  ;  denijing  both  the  Father  and  the  Son  ;\ 
mockers  ;  blaspliemers  of  the  name  of  God.  Such  prin- 
ciples as  these  existed  indeed  in  the  very  days  of  the 
Apostles  :  even  then  the  spirit  of  Antichrist  was  in  the 
world  ;  and  his  pernicious  maxims  were  concealed  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Church.  Both  St.  Peter  and  St.  Jude 
complain,  that  men,  tainted  with  atheism  and  the  vain 
pretensions  of  a  spurious  liberty.,  had  insinuated  them- 
selves into  the  primitive  feasts  of  charity,  and  were  la- 
bouring to  lead  weak  brethren  astray.  Antichrist  how- 
ever was  not  to  be  revealed,  in  all  his  undisguised  hor- 
rors, till  the  last  days  ;  till  there  had  frst  been  a  great 
Apostacy,  till  the  reign  of  superstition  zvas  nearly  over. 

At  the  head  of  this  lonff  and  black  cataloo^ue  of  the 
peculiar  vices  of  the  last  times,  we  may  justly  place  athe- 
ism and  infidelitif  :  or,  as  St.  John  expresses  it  when 
speaking  oi  Antichrist.,  a  denial  both  of  the  Father  and  of 
the  Son  :  for,  as  a  belief  that  "  God  both  is,  and  is  a 
rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  him,"  is  the  root 
Q^  all  religion  ;  so  atheism  and  infidelitij  are  equally  the 
root  of  all  irreligion.,  and  of  every  kind  of  profligacy  of 
manners.    We  have  seen,  that  the  regular  series  of  events 

absurdity,  were  published  for  the  perversion  both  of  old  and  young.  A  few,  and 
but  veryfezv,  heathen  nations  have  been  in-vol:i)itarily  ignorant  of  the  flood  ;  but  these 
conceued  pretenders  to  science  were  ivillingly  so.  It  is  almost  superfluous  to  observe, 
that  scoffing  and  ribaldry,  instead  of  calm  and  temperate  discussion,  have  been  the 
favourite  arms  of  modern  philosophers  For  this  it  is  not  difficult  to  assign  a  cause. 
Sober  reasoning  has  always  espoused  the  cause  of  revelation  :  but  every  fool  can  mate 
a  mocL  at  sin  ;  every  fool  can  say,  both  in  his  heart,  and  with  his  tongue,  there  is  no  God. 
*  The  once  protestant  countries  of  Holland  and  Switzerland  were  main  agents 
in  pr;  pagating  those  pernicious  lies,  which  have  now  pulled  down  swift  ruin 
upon  their  own  heads. 

t  "  The  Supreme  Being,  the  God  of  philosophers,  Jews,  and  Christians,  is  but 
a  chimera  and  a  phantom — Jesus  Christ  is  an  impostor."     Earruel. 


238 

leads  us  to  place  the  Icings  mentioned  by  Daniel,  offer 
the  reformation  :  and  we  have  likewise  seen  what  sins 
have  been  predicted  to  be  most  prevalent  in  the  last  days  : 
we  have  only  therefore  to  study  the  character  of  this 
hing^  and  to  compare  his  deeds  with  the  abov<='-recited 
vices,  in  order  to  determine  whether  we  are  ro  look  for 
his  manifestation,  not  only  after  the  reformation^  but  in 
that  period  of  the  1260  years  which  \s  peculiarly  distin- 
guished by  the  title  o^  the  last  times. 

"  And  a  king  shall  do  according  to  his  will ;  and  he 
shall  exalt  himself,  and  magnify  himself  above  every  God, 
and  shall  speak  marvellous  things  against  the  God  of  gods, 
and  shall  prosper  till  the  indignation  be  accomplished  : 
for  that,  that  is  determined,  shall  be  done.  Neither  shall 
he  regard  the  God  of  his  fathers,  nor  (him  zoho  is)  the 
desire  of  women,  nor  regard  any  God  :  for  he  shall  mag- 
nify himself  above  them  all.  Yet,  when  he  is  establish- 
ed (in  power  J  he  shall  honour  tutelary  gods  together 
■with  a  god  ;  even,  together  with  a  god  whom  his  fathers 
inew  not,  shall  he  honour  them  with  gold,  and  silver, 
and  with  precious  stones,  and  desirable  things :  and  he 
shall  practise  (prosperously . )  Unto  the  upholders  of 
his  tutelary  gods,  together  with  the  foreign  god  whom  he 
shall  acknowledge,  he  shall  multiply  glory  :  and  he  shall 
cause  them  to  rule  over  many,  and  divide  the  land  for 
a  price.'' 

No  person  can  compare  the  character  of  this  king  with 
the  vices  of  the  last  times ^  and  not  be  convinced  that 
they  are  closely  connected  together.  Like  the  Anti- 
christ of  St.  John,  he  was  to  be  aprofessed  atheist :  and, 
as  such,  was  to  speak  marvellous  things  against  the  God 
of  gods,  to  disregard  the  God  of  his  fathers  or  immediate 
predecessors,  to  pay  as  little  respect  to  that  illustrious 
character  who  was  the  desire  of  ivomen^  and  in  short  to 
pay  no  regard  to  anif  god.  Like  the  scoffers  of  the  last 
days^  he  was  to  be  heady  and  high-minded  :  for  he  was 
to  magnify  himself  above  all.  And,  like  the  mocking 
blasphemers  of  the  name  of  God,  he  was  to  deny  the 
Lord  that  bought  him,  and  contemptuously  ask,  Where 
is  the  promise  of  his  coming  !  In  fine,  he  was  not  to  be 
revealed  till  after  the  period  of  the  Reformation,  till  the 


239 

1260  daijs  were  drawing  near  to  their  close.  Hence  it 
is  manifest,  that  we  are  to  expect  the  appearance  of  this 
king  in  the  last  times  ;  in  the  times  of  the  scoffers  ;  m 
the  very  times  in  which  we  are  now  hving. 

It  is  to  be  observed  nevertheless,  that  the  scoffers  and 
the  king  are  not  in  all  respects  absolutely  and  completely 
the  same.  The  scoffers  2ind  false  teachers,  predicted  by 
the  apostolical  prophets,  are  plainly  individuals,  springing 
up  and  disseminating  their  baneful  principles  in  various 
parts  of  the  world  :  whereas  both  the  appellation  of  a 
king,  which  in  the  prophetic  language  signifies  a  state 
or  kingdom,  and  the  definite  political  actions,  ascribed  to 
that  king,  shew  plainly,  that  he  was  to  be  no  individual^ 
but  a  power  or  nation  composed  of  individuals,  who 
should  profess  and  act  up  to  the  impious  principles  of 
the  atheistical  scoffers.  The  people  therefore  of  the  king- 
dom, alluded  to  by  Daniel,  were  to  do  according  to  their 
will ;  were  to  exalt  themselves ;  were  to  magnify  them- 
selves above  every  god  ;  were  to  speak  marvellous  things 
against  the  God  of  gods ;  were  alike  to  disregard  the 
God  of  their  fathers,  the  desire  of  women,  and  every  other 
god ;  because  they  were  to  magnify  themselves  above  all. 
They  were  moreover  to  be  traitors,  heady,  high-minded ; 
to  deny  the  existence  both  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son  ; 
and  to  be  blasphemers  of  the  name  of  God.  They  were 
likewise  to  be  presumptuous,  self-willed  ;  to  be  despisers 
of  government  ;  to  be  not  afraid  to  speak  evil  of  digni- 
ties ;  and  to  promise  the  universal  diffusion  of  liberty, 
while  they  themselves  were  the  miserable  slaves  of  vice 
and  corruption.  In  fine  they  were  to  be  a  pandemonium 
of  licentious  anarchists  and  determined  atheists;  d^  won- 
derful phenomenon  both  in  religion  and  politics  which 
should  first  be  developed  after  the  era  of  the  Reforma- 
tion :  a  phenomenon,  such  as  had  never  before,  in  any 
age  whatsoever,  made  its  appearance  in  the  world  :  inso- 
much that  they  might  safely  be  pronounced,  whensoever 
they  should  startup,  to  be  the  long-expected  and  late- 
revealed  Antichrist. 

And  shall  we,  while  recent  events  are  yet  fresh  in  our 
memory,  find  any  difl?iculty  in  pointing  out  the  nation 
prefigured  by  the  infidel  kin^  ^  Have  we  not  all  beheld 


940 

a  mighty  people,  after  the  period  of  the  ref or  mation^TiwA 
during  the  last  ddi/s  of  open  bla.sphemij  and  profaneness^ 
rising  up  as  one  man,  and  throwing  off  every  restraint 
both  civil  and  religious  ;  disregarding  at  once  the  digni- 
ty of  their  sovereign,  and  the  high  majesty  of  heaven  ; 
trampling  upon  the  rights  both  of  individuals  and  of  na- 
tions with  liherty^  humumty^  and  philanthropif^  ever  in 
their  mouths  ;  and  professedly  rending  asunder  all  the 
endearments  of  social  life,  as  if  human  nature  could  only 
be  perfected  by  being  previously  brutalized  \  When  we 
consider  both  the  character  of  the  infidel  king^  and  the 
period  at  whicii  Daniel  predicted  his  manifestation^  we  can 
scarcely  hesitate  to  pronounce  him  to  be  re-oolutionarif 
France.* 

Let  us  proceed  however  to  a  more  minute  examina- 
tion of  his  character,  in  order  that  this  opinion  may  be 
satisfactorily  established. 

As  the  king  then  was  to  rise  up  after  the  second  perse- 
cution of  the  men  of  understandings  or,  in  other  words,  af- 
ter the  Reformation  :  so  has  the  power  of  infidel  France 
commenced  at  this  very  period.  As  the  king  was  to 
magnify  himself  above  every  god,  whether  true  or  false  : 
so  has  the  atheistical  republic^  soaring  with  a  bold  flight 
of  impiety  above  her  heathen  and  papal  precursors, 
openly  maintained  and  supported  the  most  astonishing 
lie,  that  was  ever  embraced  by  infatuated  mortals,  an 
avowed  denial  of  the  very  existence  of  the  Deity. '\ 

*  It  is  almost  superfluous  to  observe,  that  the  circumstance  of  this  poiver  being 
styled  a  ting  is  no  impediment  to  the  apphcation  of  the  prophecy  to  revolutionary 
France.  "  The  Hebrews,"  as  Mr.  Mede  justly  remarks,  "  use  king  for  kingdom,  and 
kingdom  for  any  go-uernment,  state,  or  polity,  in  the  world."  Apost.  of  the  latter  times, 
p.  i.  c.  16.)  Upon  this  principle,  I  conceive  the  injidel  king  to  be  France,  from  the 
epoch  of  the  revolution  to  the  end  of  the  1260  days,  under  whatever  form  of  government, 
whether  republican  or  imperial,  it  may  exist  during  that  period. 

f  The  reader  will  find  ample  proofs,  if  any  proofs  be  wanted,  of  French  Atheiitn 
in  Hist,  the  Interp.  of  prophecy,  Vol.  ii.  particularly  at  pp.  2'23,  23S,  241,  250. 

I  love  the  truth  wherever  it  can  be  found,  whether  in  the  writings  of  a  I^pist 
or  of  a  Protestant.  While  I  think  the  Jesuit  Cornelius  a  Lapide  quite  mistaken  in 
referring  the  character  of  the  king  primarily  to  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  I  believe  him  to 
be  very  right  in  referring  it  ultimately  and  properly  to  the  great  Antichrist.  It  is 
a  curious  circumstance,  that  long  before  the  French  Re-volution  took  place  (for  his 
Commentary  was  printed  in  the  year  1 634)  he  pronounced,  merely  from  a  view  of 
the  prophetic  character  of  the  ivilful  king,  that,  whenever  he  should  be  revealed,  he 
would  be  an  athiest,  and  would  abolish,  not  only  the  worship  of  Christ  and  the 
superstitious  idolatry  of  paganism,  but  even  the  very  name  and  adoration  of  the 
true  God.     "  Ex  hoc  ergo  ver.  et  ex  ver.  prscedcnte  (ver.  37,  38.)  colligitur,  -'\ji- 


S4l 

Yet,  in  the  midst  of  undisguised  atheism,  contradic- 
tory as  it  might  appear  before  this  prophecy  had  received 
its  accomplishment,  the  king  was  not  to  be  without  a 
god  of  his  own.  He  was  to  worship,  as  soon  as  he  was 
firmly  established,  a  certain  god  at  the  head  of  a  host  of 
Mahuzzim  or  tutelary  gods  ;  a  god,  whom  Daniel  styles 
a  strange  ov  foreign  god  :  a  god,  whom  his  fathers,  su- 
perstitious as  they  had  been,  never  knew.  Hence  it  ap- 
pears, that  the  adoration  of  this  deitij  and  his  kindred 
Mahuzzim  was  not  to  be  an  invention  of  the  king  him- 
self, but  that  it  should  be  borrowed  by  him  from  the 
theological  code  of  some  other  country.  The  god  was 
to  be  a  foreign  god,  whom  his  immediate  predecessors  of 
the  Apostacy,  notwithstanding  their  idolatrous  veneration 
of  saints  and  angels,  had  never  worshipped* 

The  Romans  were,  I  believe,  the  only  nation  that 
ever  expressly  deified  Liberty,  till  the  worship  of  it  was 
borrowed  from  them  by  the  atheists  of  France. -j"  A 
spurious  Freedom,  utterly  incompatible  either  with  ge- 
nuine religion  or  with  the  real  rights  of  man,  was  the 
very  soul  of  the  revolution  which  has  since  shaken  Eu- 
rope to  its  centre.  Liberty  and  Equality  were  the 
watchwords  of  the  infidel  conspirators  :  and  their  boast 
was,  that  slavery  and  superstition  should  soon  be  made 

tichrlstum  fore  atheum,  eumque,  cum  pleno  potie^ur  imperio,  non  tantum  Christum 
et  idola,  sed  et  Dei  veri  nomen  et  cultum  ablaturum."     (Comment,  in  loc.) 

Such  was  the  language  of  anticipatory  exposition  previous  to  the  French  RovoluHon  .- 
let  us  now  attend  to  the  remarkably  similar  language  of  applicatory  exposition  after 
the  commencement  of  that  awful  pohtico-theological  convulsion.  "  I  fear,  I  too 
clearly  see  the  rise,  instead  of  the  fall,  of  the  Antichrist  of  the  West,— \\\iO  shall  be 
neither  a  Protestant  nor  a  Papist ;  neither  Christian,  Jew,  nor  Heathen  :  who  shall 
worship  neither  God,  angel,  nor  saint — who  will  neither  supplicate  the  invisible 
majesty  of  heaven,  nor  fall  down  before  an  idoL"  Bp.  Horsley's  Letter  on  Isaiah 
xviii.  p.  105,  106. 

*  It  is  not  unworthy  of  notice,  that  "  the  Fathers  constantly  thought,  that  under 
these  Mahuzzim  was  some  idol  meant  which  Antichrist  should  worship."  (Apost.  of 
the  latter  times,  Part  i.  C.  16.)  The  event  has  shewn,  that  they  were  right  in  their 
judgment.  Jerome  observes,  that  the  Jews  likewise  conceived  the  character  of 
this  king  to  relate  to  Antichrist.     Bp.  New^on's  Dissert.  XVII. 

f  The  Greeks  had  a  festival  in  honour  of  Jufiter  Eleutherius,  but  I  am  not  aware 
that  they  ever  deified  Liberty  itself.  If  I  am  mistaken  however  in  this  point,  it  will 
not  in  the  slightest  degree  affect  the  circumstance  of  Liberty  being  a  foreign  god 
considered  in  relation  to  France.  The  boasted  Liberty  of  the  Romans  was  not 
unlike  that  of  their  modern  apes  :  as  far  as  I  am  able  to  comprehend  its  nature,  it 
was  a  liberty  to  quarrel  with  each  other,  and  to  tvrannize  over  their  weaker  neigh- 
bours. 

vor.  T.  ?i\ 


242 

to  vanish  from  off  the  foce  of  the  earth.  Liberty  hi 
short,  according  to  their  definition  of  the  word,  that  is  to 
say,  2i  freedom  from  all  restraint  both  civil  and  religiouSy 
formed  undoubtedly  the  most  prominent  feature  in  all 
their  harangues,  and  in  all  their  projects.  Not  satisfied 
however  with  merely  applauding  and  imitating  the  prin- 
ciples and  practice  of  the  ancient  Roman  republicans, 
they  determined  likewise  to  adopt  the  literal  worship  of 
Liberty.  Accordingly,  after  abjuring  the  religion  of 
Christ,  and  declaring  him  to  be  an  impostor,  the  Con- 
vention, with  tumultuous  applause,  decreed  the  adora- 
tion of  Liberttf  and  Equalitij  ;  and,  in  express  imitation 
of  the  idolatrous  Romans,  appointed  festivals  exactly 
similar  to  those  of  paganism,  in  honour  of  Reason,  the 
Country,  the  Constitution,  the  Virtues,  and  various  other 
allegorical  deities.*  Libert/j  then  I  conceive  to  be  the 
foreign  god  S(3  peculiarly  venerated  by  the  infidel  king-^ 
and  which  he  placed  vi'ith  such  distinguished  honour  at 
the  head  of  his  inferior  Mahuzzim.  Nor  were  these  al- 
legorical deities  his  only  Mahuzzim.  One  of  the  tenets 
of  modern  philosophy  is,  "  that  tutelary  gods,  even  dead 
men,  may  be  canonized,  consecrated,  and  worshipped." 
In  perfect  harmony  with  this  doctrine,  the  anti-social  re- 
public formally  enrolled  in  the  list  of  its  Mahuzzim  Vol- 
taire, Rousseau,  Mirabeau,  Marat,  and  even  the  vile  as- 
sassin Ankerstrom.  The  church  of  St.  Genevieve  "  was 
changed  by  the  national  assembly  into  a  repository  for 
the  remains  of  their  great  men,  or  rather  into  a  pagan 
temple  ;  and,  as  such,  was  aptly  distinguished  by  the 
name  of  the  Pantheon,  with  the  inscription,  Aux  grands 
hommes  la  Patrie  reconnoissante,  on  the  front."  To  this 
Pantheon,  this  avowed  copy  of  the  ancient  Roman  Pan- 
theon, this  polluted  den  of  foreign  idolatry,  the  remains 
of  V^oltaire  and  Rousseau  were  conveyed  in  a  magnifi- 
cent procession  :  and,  as  if  to  insult  the  Almighty  to  his 
face,  the  bones  of  Voltaire  were  placed  upon  the  high 
altar,  and  incense  was  offered  to  them,   the  infatuated 

*  The  late  venerable  Mr.  Jones  remarked  some  years  ago  the  gradual  approxima- 
tion of  the  present  age  to  paganism.  He  afterwards  lived  to  see  the  worship  oi  strange 
gods  openly  established  in  France.  See  his  Refections  on  the  grotit/j  of  Heatbeni.<m  aman^ 
■'.■idem  Chriiiians  :  Works,  Vol.  iii.  p.  423. 


243 

multitude  meanwhile  bowing  down  in  silent  adora- 
tion before  the  relics  of  this  arch  enemy  of  Christ.* 
Such  have  been  the  tutelary  gods  of  the  injidel  king. 
Disregarding  the  god  of  his  fathers  and  the  Desire  of 
vcome?!.,  he  has  revived  the  adoration  of  the  Mahiizzim 
of  Paganism  ;  and,  although  a  professed  atheist,  has 
prostrated  himself  before  afuregin  god  whom  his  fathers 
never  knew.-|* 

It  is  now  therefore  that  we  behold  the  rise  of  Anti- 
christ :  for  in  no  particular  does  the  Papacy  answer  to 
his  character,  as  drawn  by  the  inspired  pen  of  St.  John. 
Plunged  as  are  the  adherents  of  the  Roman  see  in  the 
grossest  superstitions,  they  have  never  denied  either  the 
Father  or  the  vSon  ;  and  consequently  we  are  not  war- 
ranted in  stigmatizing  their  Church,  however  corrupt 
and  apostatical  it  may  be,  with  the  appellation  of  Anti- 
christ. The  pretended  universal  Bishop^  that  man  of 
sin  who  sits  in  the  temple  of  God  shewing  himself  that 
he  is  God,  has  indeed  been  the  precursor  of  Antichristy 
as  Gregory  justly  remarked  ;  but  he  is  not  Antichrist 
himself 

To  complete  the  character  of  the  infidel  king.  Daniel 
adds  three  other  particulars,  all  of  which  correspond 
with  the  conduct  of  atheistical  Finance,  no  less  than  the 
bolder  outlines  of  his  picture. 

1.  The  king  zvas  to  cause  the  upholders  or  champions 
of  his  tutelarif  deities^  together  zvith  the  strange  god 
whom   he  acknowledged^  to  rule  over  many — Since  the 

*  It  was  in  this  same  Pantheon  that  a  prostitute  personated  Human  Reason,  and 
in  that  capacity  received  tlie  worship  both  of  the  Convention  and  of  the  people. 
(See  Hist,  the  Interp.  Vol.  ii.  p.  233.)  It  is  not  unworthy  of  notice,  that  the  adora- 
tion of  Ceres  has  been  revived  even  by  name  ;  a  statue  having  been  erected  to  her, 
and  a  festival  appointed  in  honour  of  her.     Ibid.  p.  242. 

f  It  has  often  been  observed,  that  prophecy  is  designedly  obscure  till  it  receives 
its  accomplishment.  This  is  remarkably  the  case  with  the  present  prediction.  It 
appears  perfectly  contradictory,  that  a  poiver,  which  magnified  itself  above  every 
god,  true  as  well  as  false,  should  nevertheless  venerate  a  strange  god  znd  tutelary  deities  : 
yet  such  has  been  precisely  the  conduct  of  France.  Had  the  people  of  that  nation 
adored  their  foreign  gods ,  really  believing  them  to  be  gods,  they  would  not  have  ful- 
filled the  prophecy ;  because  it  declares,  that  the  king  should  not  regard  any  god  : 
yet,  if  they  liad  not  lionoured  foreign  gods  in  some  manner,  they  would  equally  have 
failed  m  accomplishing  the  prophecy,  because  it  declares  that  they  should  honour 
them.  What  then  has  been  the  conduct  of  France  ?  With  professions  of  atheism 
in  her  mouth,  she  has  adored  certain  deities,  whom  she  nevertheless  disbelieves 
;o  be  deities ;  and  has  tluis  worshipped /o/r/o-«^^o(/j  without  regarding  avy  god. 


244 

sirange  god  is  IJberfij^  and  since  the  other  tutelary  gods 
are  the  various  allegorical  deities  of  the  infidel  republic, 
their  champions  must  undoubtedly  mean  the  propagators 
and  supporters  of  those  principles  upon  which  the  French 
revolution  was  founded.  I'hese  supporters  then,  toge- 
th(^r  with  his  favourite  idol,  Liberty^  the  hing  was  to 
cause  to  rule  over  many.  It  seems  almost  superfluous 
to  point  out  the  accuracy  with  which  this  part  of  the 
prophecy  has  received  its  accomplishment.  The  avow- 
ed principle  of  France  has  been  at  once  to  extend  the 
empire  of  her  turbulent  children,  those  indefatigable 
champions  of  her  Mahuzzim  ;  and  to  cause  the  whole 
world  to  bow  down  before  the  shrine  of  that  imaginary 
deit}',  which  they  misname  Libert//.  "  The  citizen  and 
the  legislator  ought  to  acknowledge  no  other  worship 
than  that  of  Liberty^  no  other  altars  than  those  of  their 
country,  no  other  priests  than  the  magistrates."  For  the 
purpose  of  more  widely  ditFusing  this  system,  a  decree 
of  fraternity  to  all  rebels  against  their  lawful  sovereigns 
"was  formally  passed  by  the  national  convention  :*  and 
it  was  determined  that  the  system  itself  shf?uld  be  ex- 
tended to  all  co'jntries  occupied  by  their  armies. -j* 
"Wherever  the  iii/idel  tyrant  has  prevailed,  he  has  caused 
liis  strange  god,  and  the  upholders  of  his  Mahuzzim,  to 
rule  over  many  ;  and,  in  every  region,  where  he  has 
been  victorious,  he  has  uniformly  planted  the  tree  of  his 
idol  Liberty.  In  short,  it  was  by  a  war  of  extermina- 
tion to  the  enemies  of  his  plans,  that  he  meant  univer- 

*  In  the  sitting  of  the  Jacobins,  Aug.  27 , 1 792,  Manuel  caused  an  oath  to  be  taken, 
that  every  exertion  should  be  used  to  purge  the  earth  of  the  pest  of  royalty. 

f  "  You  talked  of  nothing  but  liberty,  but  every  one  of  your  actions  strove  to  en- 
slave us.  Can  you  deny  it  ?  All  your  words  were  orders  ;  all  your  counsels  were  the 
mandates  of  a  despot.  We  were  promised,  at  least  verbally,  by  the  agents  of  the  great 
nation,  that  no  French  troops  should  enter  our  canton  ;  that  not  a  sous  should  be  de- 
manded of  us  :  yet  the  very  reverse  happened.  They  had  the  impudence  to  exact 
from  us  three  millions  of  hvres  ;  they  had  the  cruelty  to  march  troops  into  our  can- 
Jon,  wthout  the  least  previous  application,  to  exhaust  our  poor  innocent  country, 
Inotlier  words,  they  forced  upon  us  the  liberty  of  suffering  ourselves  to  be  stripped  of  all  ra- 
iional  freedom.  Open  th'ne  eves,  great  nation,  and  deliver  us  from  this  liberty  of  hell." 
(Lavater's  letter  to  the  Executive  directory  of  the  French  Republic,  dated  the  first 
year  of  Helvetic  slavery.)  Similar  to  tliis  was  the  conduct  of  France  in  every  coun- 
try where  her  arms  prevailed.  "  A  la  place  du  supplice,  Madame  Roland  s'inclin^ 
devant  la  statue  de  la  Liberce,  et  pronon5a  ces  paroles  m.emorables  :  0  Libctti  !  que 
'tie  primes  an  commet  en  ten  nom  .'"    Appel  a  I'impartiale  posterite,  cited  by  Kett. 


24^ 

sally  to  establish  the  power  of  the  advocates  for  demo- 
cracy and  atheism. 

The  pernicious  philosophy,  upon  which  the  revolution 
was  founded,  affords  the  only  satisfactory  key  to  the  ac- 
tions which  it  has  produced.  One  of  the  hidden  max- 
ims of  that  philosophy  is,  first  to  gain  a  firm  footing  by 

frauds  and  afterwards  to  propagate  itself  by  brutal  force  ; 
adopting  the  words  r<?«5<??z,  toleration^  ^nd  humcmitif^  only 
as  a  signal  and  call  to  arms.  Such  accordingly  are  the 
instructions  giv^en  to  the  initiated  by  the  hierophant  of 
the  ilinminati.  "  Serve,  assist,  and  mutually  support, 
each  other  ;  augment  our  numbers  ;  render  yourselves  at 
least  independent,  and  leave  to  time  and  posterity  the 
care  of  doing  the  rest.  VV  hen  your  numbers  shall  be 
augmented  to  a  certain  degree,  when  you  shall  have  ac- 
quired strength  by  your  union,  hesitate  no  longer,  but 
begin  to  render  yourself  powerful  and  formidable  to  the 
zvicked.^  The  very  circumstance  of  your  being  suffi- 
ciently numerous  to  talk  ofjorce,  and  that  you  reallij  do 
talk  of  it,  that  circumstance  alone  makes  the  profane  and 
wicked  tremble.  That  they  may  not  be  overpowered  by 
numbers,  many  will  become  good\  of  themselves,  and 
will  join   your   party.      You  will  soon   acquire  siffitient 

force  to  bind  the  hands  of  your  opponents,  to  subjugate 
them,  and  stifle  zmckedness  in  embryo.  Extend  and  mul- 
tiply the  children  of  light,  until  force  and  numbers  shall 
throw  power  into  our  hands.''^  So  again  :  "  Nations  must 
be  brought  back  to  the  nomade  state,  by  whatever  means 
are  conducible  :  peaceably,  if  it  can  be  done  ;  but  if 
not,  then  by  force,  for  all  subordination  must  be  made  to 
vanish  from  the  earth."^ 

These  doctrines  were  faithfully  acted  up  to  by  the 
French  demagogues,  when  they  had  taken  the  reins  of 
government  into  their  own  hands.  Such,  as  refused  to 
subscribe  to  their  diabolical  creed,  and  to  worship  their 
Mahuzzim,  were  inhumanly  persecuted  as  fanatics  by 
these  philanthropic  lovers  of  toleration  ;  and  were  adjudg- 
ed to  be  worthy  of  death,   because  they  were  suspected 

■*  That  IS,  in  plain  English,  all  -who  are  uniuilliiig  to  siualloxv  their  blaipbemous  ai' 
■::irditUs. 

t  Anglicci  atkists,  \  Barruel's  Mem.  of  Jacobin,  §  Ibid, 


246 

&f  being  suspicious  persons.*  "  In  different  parts  of  the 
country,  many,  who  declined  taking  the  oath,  were  kill- 
ed at  the  doors  of  the  churches  :  and  in  Brittany  several 
priests  are  said  to  have  been  hunted  through  the  forests  ; 
■where,  after  enduring  every  extremity  of  hunger  and  fa- 
tigue, they  perished  miserably  ;  and  their  mangled  car- 
cases were  afterwards  found  torn  by  briars,  and  half  de- 
voured by  beasts  of  prey/'f  It  was  afterwards  decreed, 
that  all  ecclesiastics,  who  had  not  taken  the  natit^nal 
oath  should  be  transported,  and  that,  if  any  commotion 
bestirred  up  in  favour  of  fanaticism,  all  the  clergy  should 
be  imprisoned.  It  was  further  resolved  that,  since  the 
people  of  Paris  acknowledge  no  other  worship  than  that 
of  Reason  and  Truth,%  all  the  churches  and  temples  of 
different  religions  and  worship,  which  are  known  to  be 
in  Paris,  shall  be  instantly  shut  ;  and  that  every  person, 
requiring  the  opening  of  a  church  or  temple,  shall  be 
put  under  arrest  as  a  suspected  person. §  In  short,  "  the 
greatest  hostility  to  the  ministers  of  the  church  prevailed, 
to  the  service  of  the  church,  to  all  celebration  of  devo- 
tion, to  any  profession  of  Christianity,  or  even  reverence 
of  the  name  of  the  Supreme  Being.  The  churches  were 
plundered;  the  name  of  God  was  blasphemed;  the  cler- 
gy were  declared  to  be  capable  of  every  crime,  and  made 
responsible  for  every  tumult  ;  and  i/ie  wilt  of  ifiose  per^ 
sons  was  ordered  to  he  particularlij  respected^  i<d1io  re- 
nounced all  worship  except  that  of  the  republican  virtues."  \\ 
Not  content  with  exercising  this  tyranny  over  her  own 
inhabitants,  France  has  bowed  beneath  the  same  iron 
yoke,  Holland,  Szcitzerlaud,  Piedmont,  and  a  cojisidera- 

*  Soup>;onnes  d'etre  suspects.  f  Hist,  the  Inter.  Vol.  ii.  p.  229. 

\  The  French  republicans  seem  to  use  Reason  and  Tnitb  much  in  the  same  sense 
as  Liberty  ;  meanmg,  I  suppose,  to  insinuate  that  their  Liberty  was  the  natural  off- 
spring of  Reascn ;  of  Reason,  as  it  were,  in  the  concrete.  Hence  we  find  it  recommend- 
ed in  the  Convention  with  much  mock  solemnity,  that  "  the  will  of  such  sections 
should  be  respected,  which  have  renounced  all  religious  worship,  except  that  QiRea- 
soti,' Liberty,  and  the  republican  Virtues  ;"  in  Other  words,  that  oi  the  strange  god,2X\d.  his 
lindt'ed  Mahuzzim. 

§  Hist.  Interp.  Vol.  ii.  p.  234,  239. 

II  Mr.  Kett  adduces  these  facts,  to  prove,  that  infidelity  and  revolutionary  France  are 
the  apocalyptic  tiuo-horned  beast  and  his  image.  Though  1  cannot  think,  that  either  the 
ieast  or  h's  image  has  the  slightest  connection  with  French  atheism  and  republican  tyran~ 

ny ;  yet  the  facts  are  not  on  that  account  the  less  valuable,  as  facts.     Hist,  the  Ipt. 
Vol.  'ii,  p.  244. 


247 

hie  part  of  KDliat  once  H'as  German?/  ;  perpetually  chang- 
ing, with  worse  than  childish  capriciousness,  both  their 
religious  and  their  civil  establishments:  and,  if  she  has 
failed  in  executing  «//  the  antisocial  and  antichristian 
projects  of  the  iiluminized  conspiracy,  it  has  rather  been 
from  want  of  power  than  of  will. 

Thus  has  the  king  caused  his  tutelary  deities  and  their 
upholders  to  rule  over  many  ;  those  deities,  whom  he 
himself  has  honoured  instead  of  the  God  of  heaven. 

2.  The  king  zi)as  moreover  to  honour  his  Mahuzzim^ 
together  with  his  foreign  god^  imth  gold,  and  silver,  and 
precious  stones,  and  desirable  things — This  part  of  the 
prophecy  has  been  accomplished  by  Infidel  France  both 
indirectly  and  directly,  both  abroad  and  at  home.  When 
Italy  was  plundered  of  the  finest  specimens  of  the  arts 
by  the  modern  advocates  of  freedom,  and  when  the  dec- 
orations of  her  palaces  were  transported  to  France  and 
declared  to  be  the  sole  property  of  the  sovereign  people  ; 
Liberty  was  the  deity  thus  honoured  with  desirable 
things,  for  Liberty  was  that  which  sanctioned  every  vio- 
lation of  private  rights.  When  the  ornaments  of  the 
churches  were  either  confiscated,  or  rapaciously  carried 
off  by  the  infuriated  mob  ;  Liberty,  Reason,  and  the  Re- 
publican Virtues,  were  the  Mahuzzim  thus  honoured  with 
gold,  and  silver,  and  precious  stones.*  When  the  noble 
church  of  St.  Genevieve,  profusely  decorated  by  all  the 
skill  of  architecture,  was  desecrated,  under  the  name  of 

*  "  By  an  edict  of  the  constituent  assembly,  there  was  a  general  sale  of  all  ecclesi- 
astical property  ;  and  every  kind  of  property,  connected  with  churches  or  charities, 
was  confiscated."  (Hist,  the  Inter.  Vol.  ii.  p.  2.32,  233.)  "  In  November,  a  depu- 
tation from  the  societies  of  Versailles  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  loaded  with  chalices^ 
crosses,  and  other  ornaments  from  their  churches.  The  priest  of  the  Romaa 
church,  said  they,  the  Bishop  of  the  department  of  Seine  and  Oise,  is  dead.  Will 
you  sufFer  a  new  one  to  be  elected  ?  Will  you,  who  have  overturned  the  throne, 
suffer  the  pontifical  canopy  to  remain  }  Will  you,  who  have  broken  crowns  and 
sceptres,  preserve  their  proud  rivals,  tlie  mitre  and  the  cross  ? — The  citizen  and  the 
legislator  ought  to  acknowledge  no  other  worship  than  that  of  Liberty,  no  other 
.altars  than  those  of  their  country,  no  other  priests  than  the  magistrates.  Do  you, 
legislators,  like  that  of  the  Hebrews,  come  down  from  the  mountain,  break  in  pieces 
the  golden  calf,  and  let  the  ark  of  the  constitution  be  the  only  idol  of  the  French." 
(Ibid.  p.  239.)  "  The  Sans  culottes  considered  themselves  as  authorized  to  plunder 
every  place  of  worship,  public  and  private  ;  and  divided  with  the  Convention  large 
heaps  of  shrines,  figures,  and  vessels,  hitherto  used  in  the  offices  of  religion,  while 
the  commissioners  from  the  Convention  aided  the  sacrilegious  pillage."  (Ibid.  p. 
240,  241.)  All  these  enormities  have  been  expressly  perpetrated  in  the  name,  and 
for  the  honour,  of  Liberty. 


248 

the  Pantheon^  to  the  tutelary  gods  of  Infidelity  ;  the  tri- 
umph of  Liberty  was  complete,  the  foreign  god  and  his 
kindred  Mahuzzim  had  received  the  highest  honours 
which  the  atheistical  king  had  it  m  his  power  to  bestow. 
3.  The  king  zcas  likezvise  to  divide  the  land  for  a  price. 
He  was  to  take  it  from  its  former  possessors,  and  divide 
it  among  his  adherents,  the  champions  of  his  Mahuzzim,, 
on  the  consideration  of  being  paid  by  them  a  certain  price 
for  it — This  peculiarity  in  his  character  at  once  shews 
that  he  cannot  be  either  the  Pope  or  the  Constantmopol- 
itau  Empire,  and  points  out  with  singular  exactness  the 
poiser  which  he  was  designed  to  prefigure.  The  con- 
querors of  foreign  nations  have  not  unfrequently  divided 
the  lands  of  the  conquered  among  their  victorious  troops  : 
but  such  a  division  bears  no  resemblance  to  that  which 
the  infidel  king  should  contrive.  Successful  invadt-rs 
rarely  sell  xSxo.  lands,  whioh  they  have  seized  :  bur  this 
kingdom  or  ponder  was  not  merely  to  divide  the  land ;  it 
was  to  divide  it  for  a  price.  It  was  first  to  declare  the 
land  exclusively  its  own  property,  and  then  to  sell  it  for 
money  to  the  champions  of  its  Mahuzzim.  Exactly  such 
has  been  the  conduct  of  the  atheistical  republic ;  nor 
will  it  be  easy  to  point  out  any  state,  which  ever  adopt- 
ed a  similar  line  of  conduct,  certainly  none  since  the  era 
oi  the  Reformation,  when  we  are  taught  by  Daniel  to 
expect  the  appearance  of  the  infidel  king.  The  French 
Revolution  has  differed  from  all  others,  not  only  in  pro- 
ducing a  change  of  government,  but  likewise  in  eti'ect- 
ing  a  complete  change  of  landed  property.  By  a  deep- 
laid  stroke  of  policy,  and  with  a  view  to  preclude  for 
ever  the  possibility  of  a  counter-revolution,  the  lands 
both  of  the  crown,  the  church,  and  the  nobility,  were 
taken  away  from  their  lawful  owners,  and  declared  to  be 
the  sole  property  of  the  nation.  This  preparatory  step 
having  been  taken,  the  lands  were  next,  as  it  is  well 
known,  sold  at  a  low  price  to  the  partizans  of  anarchy 
and  atheism  ;  by  which  master-stroke  of  Machiavelian 
villany  an  insurmountable  barrier  was  raised  against  any 
future  attempt  to  re-establish  the  Bourbons,  for  it  was 
made  the  direct  interest  of  every  landholder  throughout 
France  to  oppose  their  return. 


249 

Since  it  has  been  our  fate  to  behold  with  our  own  eyes 
the  rise  of  this  wonderful  power,  it  will  not  be  uninter- 
esting so  inquire  in  what  manner  the  way  was  prepared 
for  its  developement.  As  for  the  principles  of  Anti- 
christ^  they  were  working  even  in  the  apostolic  age  : 
but,  would  we  learn  the  real  cause  of  his  ultimate  suc- 
cess in  propagating  so  widely  his  blasphemous  opinions, 
we  must  turn  our  eyes  to  the  corruptions  of  Popery. 
Daniel  places  the  atheistical  tyrant  after  the  era  of  the 
Reformation^  and  consequently  after  the  period  of  thick 
intellectual  darkness  which  overspread  the  Roman  world 
during  the  middle  ages.  Here  then  we  are  to  look  for 
the  rise  of  the  monster  :  and  history  will  abundantly 
point  out  to  us  the  steps  by  which  he  did  rise.  "  When 
the  revival  of  letters  enabled  men  to  see  the  mass  of  ab- 
surdities, contradictions, and  impieties,  which  were  taught 
by  the  Church  of  Rome  to  be  essential  parts  of  Chris- 
tianity, scepticism  was  the  natural  result  of  this  discov- 
ery. Reason,  just  risen  from  her  slumber,  seized  the 
truths  presented  to  her  view  with  all  the  eagerness  which 
novelty  could  excite.  Disgusted  with  surrounding  bi- 
gotry and  superstition,  impatient  of  control,  and  daz- 
zled with  the  light  though  glimmering  which  now  broke- 
through  the  darkness  of  the  middle  ages,  she  too  seldom 
distinguished  religion  from  the  gross  corruptions  with 
which  it  had  been  loaded  ;  and,  usurping  the  seat  of 
judgment,  she  often  decided  upon  subjects  not  amen- 
able to  her  tribunal.^'* 

As  the  period  of  the  last  days  gradually  drew  nearer, 
they  of  the  Apostacy^  utterly  ignorant  of  the  genuine 
Gospel  of  Christ,  and  having  refused  to  embrace  the 
blessed  truths  of  the  Reformation^  were  fully  prepared 
to  be  carried  about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine,  and  to  be 
deceived  by  those  false  teachers,  who  privilyj*  brought 
in  damnable  heresies,  even  denying  the  Lord  that  bought 
them.     Hence  they  became   the  easy  dupes  of  Anti- 

*  Hist,  the  Interp.  Vol.  ii.  p.  1 24. 

f  No  precept  is  so  often  repeated  by  Voltaire,  as  "  Strike,  but  conceal  your  hand." 
Secret  societies  were  the  main  engine  of  the  antichristian  conspirators.  By  means  of 
these  the  pupils  of  the  Illuminati  were  almost  imperceptibly  led  from  one  degree  of 
wickedness  to  another,  till  at  length  they  were  plunged  in  all  the  horrors  of  undil- 
guised  atheism.  See  Kelt's  His.  the  Inter,  of  Proph.  Vol.  II.  p.  152—194. 
VOL.   1.  52 


230 

christ ;  and  were  soon  led  from  scepticism  even  into  ab- 
solute atheism.  In  short,  as  it  hath  been  most  justly 
observed,  "  to  Popery^  to  the  errors  and  defects  of  Pope- 
rij^  we  cannot  but  impute,  in  a  great  degree,  the  origin 
of  that  revolutionary  spirit,  which  has  gone  so  far  towards 
the  subversion  of  the  ancient  establishments  of  religion 
and  civil  government.  1  should  be  sorry  to  give  pain 
to  any  one  of  the  unhappy  victims  of  the  French  revo- 
lution :  I  most  truly  sympathize  with  their  sufferings  ; 
but  we  must  not  allow  our  charity  to  injure  our  princi- 
ples, or  to  pervert  our  judgment.  The  heavy  blow, 
which  has  been  struck  at  the  very  existence  of  Christian- 
ity, must  be  charged,  as  I  said,  in  a  great  degree,  to 
many  erroneous  opinions,  and  some  pernicious  institu- 
tions of  that  form  of  religion,  from  which  the  wisdom  of 
our  ancestors  separated  our  national  church.  The  main- 
tenance of  opinions,  unfounded  on  the  authority  of  the 
Gospel,  and  inconsistent  with  its  purity,  has  given  occa- 
sion to  minds,  perhaps  naturally  averse  to  religion,  to 
reject  the  most  valuable  evidences  of  Christianity.  By 
the  abuses  of  religion,  such  minds  have  been  led  into  all 
the  extravagances  of  deism  and  atheism,  of  revolution 
and  anarchy.  They  had  not  the  discernment,  or  the 
candour,  to  distinguish  between  Christianity,  and  its 
corruptions.  The  conspiracy  against  the  religion  of 
Christ,  which  originated  in  these  delusions,  burst  on  the 
devoted  monarchy  of  France  ;  and  involved  that  unhap- 
py country  in  such  scenes  of  blood,  rapine,  and  ungov- 
ernable excess,  as  revolt  every  principle  of  justice,  every 
feeling  of  humanity."* 

What  may  in  some  sense  be  called  the  abortive  off- 
spring of  Popery  has  been  made  an  instrument  in  the 
hands  of  God  to  visit  the  iniquities  of  its  parent.  The 
blood  of  those,  who  repented  not  of  the  works  of  their 
hands,  their  idolatry,  their  murders,  their  sorceries,  their 
spiritual  fornication,  their  pious  or  rather  impious  frauds, 
"  has  been  prodigally  shed  :  and  it  is  very  remarkable, 
that  the  French  anarchists  have  introduced  the  horrors 
of  war  principally  into  popish  countries  ;  as  if  those  na- 

*  Bp.of  Durham's  Charge,  1801.  p.  2,  S. 


2ol 

tions,  which  profess  the  purity  of  the  protestant  rehgioDj 
vveie  providentially  preserved  from  danger/^* 

Not  that  all  protestant  countries  have  escaped.  The 
mere  name  oi  protesianiism  is  of  little  importance,  when 
its  spirit  is  no  more.  They,  who  have  apostatized  from 
the  religion  of  their  fathers,  must  expect  to  partake  of 
the  -cials  of  God's  Kirath.  Though  Antichrist  has  reared 
his  head  in  a  popish  country,  and  though  he  has  prevail- 
ed most  in  regions  once  devoted  to  the  papal  supersti- 
tion, yet  the  Apostacij  was  not  to  be  his  ouhj  stage  of 
action.  His  principles  have  tainted  numbers  even  under 
protestant  governments,  agreeably  to  the  sure  word  of 
prophecy,  that  the  false  teachers  o^  the  last  days  should 
"  allure  through  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  through  much 
wantonness,  those  that  were  clean  escaped  from  theui 
who  live  in  error  :"  upon  which  the  Apostle  remarks, 
"  It  had  been  better  for  them  not  to  have  known  the 
way  of  righteousness,  than,  after  they  have  known  it,  to 
turn  from  the  holy  commandment  delivered  unto  them/'f 

II.  It  will  be  proper  for  me  now  to  consider  an  objec- 
tion, which  may  possibly  be  urged  against  the  foregoing 
interpretation  of  the  character  of  the  infidel  king  :  The 
French  people  have  at  present  thrown  aside  their  atheis- 
tical hatred  to  Christianity,  and  have  once  more  avozced 
themselves  Papists. 

1.  To  this  it  might  be  sufficient  to  answer,  that,  al- 
though Popery  be  once  more  established  in  France,  it  is 
evidently  a  mere  political  puppet,  as  little  regarded  by 
the  people  as  by  their  rulers. %     The  fiat  of  a  convention 

*  Zouch  on  Propheqr,  p.  62,  «3.  f  2  Peter  ii.  1,  18,  21. 

\  We  may  form  a  tolerable  idea  of  the  present  state  of  religion  in  France  by 
attending  to  the  confessed  machinations  of  the  chief  of  the  Illuminati.  "  All  the 
German  schools,"  says  this  indefatigable  propagator  of  atheism  ;  "  and  the  benevo- 
lent Society,  are  at  last  under  our  direction — Lately  zi-e  have  got  possession  of  the 
Bartholomeixi  Institution  for  young  clergymen.,  ba-jing  secured  all  their  supporters.  Through 
this  we  shall  be  able  to  supply  Bavaria  with  fit  priests—  We  must  acquire  the  di- 
rection of  education,  of  church  management,  of  the  professorial  chair,  and  of  the  pulpit. 
We  must  preach  the  warmest  concern  for  humanity,  and  make  people  indifferent 
to  all  other  relations.  We  must  gain  the  reviewers,  and  the  journalists,  and  the 
booksellers."  (Piist.  the  Inter.  Vol.  ii.  p.  1 94,  1 95.)  Accordingly,  when  Christian- 
ity was  ncOTwa//)' at  least  restored  in  the  year  1795  by  the  repeal  of  the  laws  of 
intoleration,  pastoral  letters  were  published  by  the  revolutionary  bishops,  those 
meet  successors  of  Judas  in  the  ApostoUcal  college,  in  which  the  Gospel  is  repre- 
sented as  being  the  original  declaration  of  the  rights  of  man,  and  in  which  the 
union  of  the  throne  and  the  altar  i«  state4  to  be  the  most  antichristian  of  political 


2J2 

or  of  an  usurper  may  set  up  a  form  of  religion  ;  but  it  is 
not  so  easy  a  matter  to  eradicate  the  work  of  years,  to 
weed  out  of  the  minds  of  the  governed  those  principles 
of  atheism  and  infidelitij  which  have  long  been  so  indus- 
triously disseminated  among  them.*  Hopeless  indeed 
must  be  the  task  of  converting  a  whole  nation,  when  it 
is  undertaken,  as  at  present,  by  one  who  has  alternately 
professed  himself  an  Atheist^  a  Mohammedan^  and  a 
Papist. 

2.  Perhaps  however  a  more  zcwighfij  answer  than  this 
may  be  furnished  to  the  objection  now  under  considera- 
tion. Hutnanhf  speaking,  and  judging  from  the  existing 
political  appearance  of  Europe,  the  concurring  prophe- 
cies of  Daniel  and  St.  John,  relative  to  the  duration  of 
the  great  Apostactf^  would  not  have  received  their  com- 
plete accomplishment,    had  not    Antichrist  become   the 

or  religious  institutions.  "  These  bishops  were  commonly  recommended  from  the  great 
mother  club  at  Paris"  (the  united  club  of  atheistical  Jacobins  and  German  Illuminati, 
who  had  now,  according  to  the  wily  adv'ice  of  their  founder,  acquired  the  whole  man- 
agement of  the  church,  and  would  doubtless  take  care  to  supply  France  with^/^^w^i,^ 
"  to  the  affiliated  societies,  and  by  their  means  elected.  Of  course  the  only  qualifi- 
cation, regarded  in  prelates  so  chosen,  was  the  orthodoxy,  not  of  their  religious, 
but  political  creed.  Very  few  indeed  of  the  new  rectors  and  vicars  were  men  of 
character ;  and  as,  after  all,  many  were  still  wanting  for  the  vacant  cures,  many  of 
the  laity  were  ordained  with  little  or  no  inquiry."  We  may  judge  what  a  horde 
of  banditti  these  republican  clergy  are,  since  the  constitutional  vicar  general  to  the 
new  Bishop  of  Perigueux  has  had  the  grace  to  acknowledge  that  even  he  is  asliamed 
of  them.  With  much  truth,  I  doubt  not,  he  represents  them  as  a  set  of  "  vagabonds 
and  libertines,  who  had  not  found  admittance  into  civilized  society."  He  seems 
however  for  a  moment  to  have  forgotten,  that  such  were  the  fittest  subjects  for  the 
recommendation  of  the  great  mother  club  at  Paris,  the  very  men  after  Voltaire's  and 
Weishaupt's  own  hearts.     Hist,  the  Interp.  Vol.  ii.  p.  255,  256,  257. 

*  Let  an  eye-vritness,  and  certainly  no  prejudiced  eye-witness,  be  heard  upon  this 
point.  "  When  I  was  myself  in  France,"  says  the  late  Dr.  Priestley,  "  in  the  year 
1774,  I  saw  sufficient  reason  to  believe,  that  hardly  any  person  of  eminence  in 
Church  or  State,  and  especially  in  a  great  degree  eminent  in  philosophy  or  litera- 
ture (whose  opinions  in  all  countries  are  sooner  or  later  adopted  by  others),  were 
believers  in  Christianity ;  and  no  person  will  suppose,  that  there  has  been  any 
change  in  favour  of  Christianity  in  the  last  twenty  years.  A  person,  I  believe  now 
living,  and  one  of  the  best  informed  men  in  the  country,  assured  me  very  gravely, 
that  (paying  me  a  compliment)  I  was  the  first  person  he  had  ever  met  with,  of 
whose  understanding  he  had  any  opinion,  who  pretended  to  believe  Christianity. 
To  this  all  the  company  assented.  And  not  only  were  the  philosophers,  and  other 
leading  men  in  France,  at  that  time  unbelievers  in  Christianity  or  Deists,  but 
Atheists  denying  the  being  of  a  God."  (Priestley's  Fast  Sermon,  1794.)  The  sect, 
of  which  Dr.  Priestley  was  so  strenuous  an  advocate,  received  as  whimsical  a  compli- 
ment from  Voltaire,  as  the  Doctor  himself  did  from  the  grave  person  mentioned  by 
!iim  in  the  preceding  citation.  The  philosopher  of  Ferney  was  willing  to  tolerate 
the  Socinians,  during  his  war  with  Christ,  "  because"  says  he,  "  fulian  would  have 
favoured  them  ;  and  I  hate  v/hat  Julian  would  have  hated,  and  despise  what  Julian 
would  hare  despised." 


^53 

avowed  supporter  of  if.  If  we  cast  our  eyes  over  a  map 
of  the  world,  we  shall  perceive,  t\vdt  proiestantism  is  se- 
curely planted  in  the  North  of  Europe  and  America, 
and  in  most  of  the  numerous  colonies  of  the  English  ; 
that  I  he  Greek  church,  under  the  powerful  protection  of 
Russia,  occupies  all  the  East  and  North-East  of  Europe  ; 
and  that  the  southern  regions  of  that  continent,  vvitli 
their  dependent  foreign  possessions,  alone  acknowledge 
the  supremacy  of  the  Pope.  Now  it  is  an  undoubted 
truth,  that  the  whole  of  those  southern  regions,  with 
the  solitary  exception  of  the  iVustrian  states  and  those 
debilitated  and  dispirited  by  a  long  and  unsuccessful  war, 
are  to  all  intents  and  purposes  mere  provinces  of  France, 
trembling  at  her  nod  and  subservient  to  all  her  tyranni- 
cal schemes  of  aggrandisement.*  This  being  the  case, 
where  would  have  been  the  papal  Apostacy^  had  France 
persevered  in  her  profession  of  atheism  ;  and  had  she  fur- 
ther determined,  according  to  the  original  plans  of  the 
Jacobinical  Illuminati,  that  all  her  vassals  should  be 
atheists  likewise  I  She  laboured  under  no  physical  ina- 
bility of  overturning  the  Papacy,  and  had  once  actually 
to  all  appearance  entirely  subverted  it  :  but  her  blind 
fury  was  restrained  by  Him,  who  with  equal  ease  can 
calm  the  troubled  ocean,  and  still  the  madness  of  the  peo- 
ple. The  end  was  not  yet :  the  1260  years  had  not  ex- 
pired :  and  the  Apostacy  had  to  run  that  part  of  its 
career  which  was  contemporary  with  the  reign  of  Anti- 
christ. Hence,  rather  than  one  jot  or  one  tittle  of  all 
God's  word  should  fail,  the  infidel  king  has  become,  by 
the  overruling  providence  of  God,  a  supporter  of  the 
very  superstition  which  he  had  once  laboured  to  destroy. 
3.  The  last  and  most  conclusive  answer  however,  which 
may  be  given  to  the  objection  is  this.  When  thorough- 
ly examined,  the  objection  in  question  will  be  found  in 
reality  to  afford  an  argument  for  the  present  mode  of 
interpretation,  instead  of  an  argument  against  it.  Un- 
less Antichrist,  at  some  period  or  another  of  his  exist- 
ence, had  actually  leas^ued  himself  with  the  Papacy,  the 
prophecies,  which  relate   to  the  great   events  that  are  a- 

*  This  observation  is  even  more  true  at  present  (March  26,  1806),  than  when  it 

was  origir.ally  made. 


254 

bout  to  take  place  at  the  termination  of  the  1260  ijears^ 
could  not  have  been  fully  and  exactly  accomplished. 
At  the  time  of  the  end^  the  infidel  king^  as  we  are  taught 
by  Daniel,  is  to  engage  in  some  zvar  of  a  i^eligious  nature^ 
is  to  invade  Palestine.^  and  is  eventually  to  perish  be- 
tiQ)een  the  seas.  At  the  same  time  of  the  end^  a  grand 
confederacy^  as  we  are  informed  by  St.  John,  of  the  beast, 
the  false  prophet, -diud  the  kings  of  the  earth,  is  to  be 
overthrown  with  dreadful  slaughter  at  Megiddo  ;  which 
is  a  town  of  Palestine,  situated,  agreeably  to  Daniel's 
prediction,  between  the  seas.  St.  John  further  marks  the 
country  where  this  is  to  happen,  by  describing  it  as  ex- 
tending 1600  stadia,  which  is  found  to  be  precisely  the 
measure  of  the  holy  land.  At  tJie  self -same  time  of  the 
end  likewise,  as  we  are  assured  by  Joel,  zcar  shall  be 
sanctified ;  but  the  impious  wretches,  who  thus  dare  to 
profane  the  holy  name  of  religion,  shall  be  destroyed 
between  the  seas.  Lastly,  at  this  veri/  time  of  the  end,  a 
time  of  unexampled  trouble,  the  restoration  of  the  Jews, 
as  Daniel,  Joel,  and  Zechariah,*  all  concur  in  affirming, 
will  commence.  Now  from  comparing  these  ditFerent 
prophecies  together  it  appears,  that  the  war  of  the  infidel 
king  in  Palestine  at  the  time  of  the  end  must  necessarily 
be  the  same  as  the  war  of  the  beast  in  the  same  country 
and  at  the  same  period  :  and  it  further  appears,  that  the 
reason,  why  this  war  will  be  styled  by  him  a  holij  wary 
will  be  his  union  zoith  the  false  prophet  :  in  other  words, 
it  will  be  a  war  undertaken  by  him  either  against  the 
protestants,  or  the  Jews,  or  both,  upon  popish  principles 
of  extermination  ;  it  will  be  a  war  begun  under  the  pre- 
tence of  advancing  the  honour  of  religion.  Thus  it  is 
manifest,  that  the  late  re-establishment  of  Popery  in 
France  is  so  far  from  being  any  objection  to  the  present 
mode  of  interpreting  the  character  of  the  infidel  king, 
that  it  abundantly  confirms  the  propriety  of  it  :  for,  un- 
less the  atheistical  power,  at  some  lime  or  another,  re- 
united itself  with  the  head  of  the  papal  Apostacij,  it  cer- 
tainly could  not  engage  in  a  holy  zvctr  along  with  the 

■*  Such  indeed  is  t!ie  declaration  of  all  the  ancient  prophets,  insomuch  that  it  is 
impossible  to  treat  of  t/je  restoration  of  the  Je-zvs  without  likewise  treating  of  tie  de- 
.'fn/ciicr  of  Aniichtisf. 


255 

false  prophet^  as  we  are  plainly  taught  that  it  hereaftep 
shall  do  at  the  close  of  the  1260  years* 

At  present  therefore  we  may  pronounce  the  king  to  be 
a  motley  monster^  compounded  of  Atheism  and  Popery  ; 
inwardly  an  atheist,^  outv^ardly  a  papist  ;  still  doing  ac- 
cording to  his  will,  and  exalting  himself  ;  still  insulting 
and  tyrannizing  over  his  weaker  neighbours  ;  and  still 
scourging  the  members  of  that  Aposfacy,  which  he  now 
professes  to  venerate  and  uphold.  In  this  state,  or  in 
some  state  similar  to  it,  he  will  continue  to  the  end  of 
the  1260  years,  and  till  the  commencement  of  the  res- 
toration of  the  Jens  ;%  when  like  his  brethren  in  fraud, 
violence,  and  iniquity,  "  he  shall  come  to  his  end,  and 
none  shall  help  him."  Meanwhile,  whatever  may  be  his 
ostensible  creed,  he  is  still  the  same  tyrant,  as  when  he 
began  his  demoniacal  career.  The  laws  of  nations,  and 
the  hitherto  universally  acknowledged  rights  of  ambas- 
sadors,  he  violates  with   the  same   contempt  of  every 

^  This  subject  will  be  fully  discussed  hereafter.  We  have  akeady  had  a  specimen 
of  the  holy  zeal  with  which  the  present  usurper  of  the  throne  of  France  espouses 
the  cause  of  Popery.  From  a  pious  regard  no  doubt  for  the  soul  of  his  brother, 
he  has  caused  the  sovereign  pontiff  to  pronounce  a  divorce  between  him  and  his 
wife,  on  the  ground  forsooth  of  her  being  a  heretic.  What  may  not  be  expected 
hereafter  from  such  an  auspicious  beginning  ! 

f  It  is  unreasonable  to  suppose,  that  all  the  people  of  France,  even  fickle  and 
volatile  as  they  are,  should  suddenly  have  turned  with  sincerity  from  Atheism  to 
Popery.  From  what  can  be  learned  of  the  state  of  that  country,  Atheism  and  Irrt- 
tigion  seem  to  be  little  less  prevalent  than  ever  they  were. 

I  It  is  expressly  declared,  that  he  shall  prosper  //'//  the  indignation  is  accomplishe/, 
(Dan.  xi.  36.)  and  that  at  the  time  of  the  end  he  shall  undertake  the  expedition  which 
will  terminate  in  his  destruction.  Thus  is  it  doubly  pointed  out,  that  he  shall  be 
permitted  to  prosper  till  the  end  of  the  1 260  years  :  for  both  the  time  of  the  end  com- 
mences, and  the  peculiar  season  of  the  indignation  is  finished,  when  those  years  terminate. 
Mr.  Mede,  in  a  manner  not  very  consistent  even  with  his  own  interpretation  of  the 
prophecy,  supposes  that  the  indignation  was  accomphshed  when  the  Roman  empire. 
ceased  to  be  pagan  under  Constantine.  (Apost.  of  latter  times.  Part.  I.  C.  17.) 
Bp.  Newton,  on  the  contrary,  very  justly  thinks,  that  the  indignation  will  not  be  ac- 
comphshed till  the  Jews  begin  to  be  restored,  and  consequently  till  the  end  of  tie 
1 260  years  :  but  I  much  doubt,  whether  the  period  of  the  indignation  means,  as  he  sup- 
poses, "  the  last  end  and  consummation  of  God's  indignation  against  his  people  the 
Jews."  (Dissert.  XVII.)  It  seems  to  me  to  be  plainly  the  same  as  the  period  of  tba 
ivonJers,  which  is  to  end  at  the  expiration  of  the  three  times  and  a  half  (Dan.  xii.  6, 
7.)  ;  in  other  words,  the  same  as  the  period  of  the  1260  years,  which  is  ever  repre- 
sented as  the  pecuUar  season  of  God's  indignation  on  account  of  the  apostacy  and 
degeneracy  of  his  Church.     Hence  the  latter  part  of  Daniel's  vision  of  the  ram  and 

the  he-goat,  which  trejlts  of  the  desolating  transgression  of  Mohammedism,  during  the  1  260 
yrjrs,  is  represented  as  Ukewise  treating  of  the  Aarith  or  latter  end  of  the  indignation, 
or,  as  it  might  be  more  properly  translated, /4j  su;c!Siien,tbe  continuance,  of  the  indigna- 
tion.    Dan.  viii.  19^ 


256 

principle  of  justice  and  honour,  as  he  heretofore  overleap- 
ed the  laws  of  his  country,  and  trampled  upon  the  rights 
of  individuals.  The  privileges  of  neutral  states  are  dis- 
regarded by  him,  when  he  conceives  that  his  interests 
may  be  promoted  by  the  murder  of  a  Bourbon.  In  fine, 
despising  the  petty  villanies  of  a  private  robber,  he  takes 
a  bolder  flight  of  rapacity  :  and,  while  with  high  vault- 
ing ambition  he  extends  on  every  side  the  limits  of  his 
dominions,  he  distributes  among  those,  who  are  base 
enough  to  concur  with  him  in  his  schemes  of  plunder, 
whole  provinces  of  a  once  independent  empire  under 
the  specious  name  o^  inde' unities. *  But,  gigantic  as  may 
be  his  projects  of  universaldomination,f  the  time  is  rap- 
idly approaching  when  "  the  Son  of  man  will  come  in  the 
clouds  of  heaven,"  and  establish  the  last  universal  sover- 
eignty, that  of  the  sijmhohcal nMuntain.  Then  shall  "  the 
fourth  beast  be  slain,  and  his  body  destroyed  ;"  then  shall 
each  of  the  little  horns  be  broken  ;  then  shall  the  injidel 
tijrant  "  come  to  his  end  ;"  and  then  shall  the  victorious 
Word  of  God  receive  from  his  Almighty  Father  "  domin- 
ion, and  glory,  and  a  kingdom,  that  all  people,  nations, 
and  languages,  should  serve  him  :  his  dominion  is  an 
everlasting  dominion  which  shall  not  pass  away,  and  his 
kingdom  that  which  shall  not  be  destroyed." 

III.  It  appears  from  the  remainder  of  the  prophecy 
relative  to  the  atheistical  king\  that  toward  the  close  of 
his  career,  he  should  meet  with  a  most  powerful  oppo- 
nent in  a  mii^'htii  kino-  of  the  Norths  and  with  a  less  vig- 
orous resistence  from  a  kin^  of  the  South.  "  At  the  time 
of  the  end  shall  a  king  of  the  South  butt  at  him  ;  and  a 

*  The  dignified  and  princely  conduct  of  Sweden  at  the  pi-esent  juncture  forms 
a  striking-  contrast  to  the  pitiful  behaviour  of  most  of  the  continental  sovereigns. 
It  is  a  relief  to  the  mind  to  turn  from  the  degraded  and  enslaved  South,  and  to  con- 
template a  line  of  conduct  worthy  of  better  times  in  the  more  free  and  manly 
North.     May,  1805. 

Since  this  note  was  written,  a  vast  coalition  has  been  formed  against  France,  and 
has  been  broken  almost  as  soon  as  formed.  England,  Sv/eden,  and  Russia,  are  now 
the  only  independent  powers  of  Europe.  Every  passing  event  serves  to  shew  that 
the  counsels  of  God  are  rapidly  hastening  to  maturity.     March  26,  1806. 

f  It  may  not  be  improper  to  remind  the  reader,  that  I  speak  of  the  actions  of 
Buonaparte  or,ly  as  being  a  portion  of  the  actions  of  t/^e  infidel  kingdom.  Neither  be, 
nor  any  other  indiiiidual,  is  intended  bv  this  infidel  ting  or  kingdom  ;  but  France  alone 
from  the  commencement  of  the  revoUuicn  to  the  termination  of  tfic  1260  years  and 
the  beginning  of  the  fiw:  of  the  e:.d. 


257 

king  of  the  North  shall  come  against  him  like  a  whirl- 
wind, with  chariots,  and  with  horsemen,  and  with  many 
ships.  Yet  he  shall  enter  into  the  countries,  and  shall 
overflow,  and  shall  pass  over,  and  shall  enter  into  the  glo- 
rious land,  and  many  countries  shall  be  overthrown  :  but 
these  shall  escape  out  of  his  hand,  even  Edom,  and  Moab, 
and  the  chief  of  the  children  of  Ammon.  He  shall 
stretch  forth  his  hand  also  upon  the  countries  :  and  the 
land  of  Egypt  shall  not  escape.  But  he  shall  have  pow- 
er over  the  treasures  of  gold  and  of  silver,  and  over  all 
the  precious  things  of  Egypt  :  and  the  Libyans  and  the 
Ethiopians  shall  be  at  his  steps.  But  tidings  out  of  the 
East  and  out  of  the  North  shall  trouble  him  :  therefore 
he  shall  go  forth  with  great  fury  to  destroy,  and  under 
the  pretext  of  religion  to  devote  many  to  utter  destruc- 
tion. And  he  shall  plant  the  curtains  of  his  pavilions 
between  the  seas  in  the  glorious  holy  mountain  :  yet  he 
shall  come  to  his  end,  and  none  shall  help  him.  And 
at  that  time  shall  Michael  stand  up,  the  great  prince 
which  standeth  for  the  children  of  thy  people  :  and  there 
shall  be  a  time  of  trouble,  such  as  never  was,  since  there 
was  a  nation  even  to  that  same  time  :  and  at  that  time 
thy  people  shall  be  delivered,  every  one  that  shall  be 
found  written  in  the  book." 

I^ortk  and  South  are  mere  general  and  relative  terms. 
At  the  beginning  of  this  last  prophecy  of  Daniel,  the  kings 
of  the  North  and  the  South  are  undoubtedly  the  kings  of 
Syria  and  Egijpt :  but  their  power  has  long  since  been 
broken  :  consequently  the  kings  oftheNorthand  the  South 
at  the  latter  end  of  the  prediction  are  entirely  different 
potentates  from  those  mentioned  in  the  earlier  part  of  it. 

Bp.  Newton,  as  we  have  seen,  supposes,  that  the  king, 
who  was  to  magnifif  himself  above  every  god^  is  the  Pope 
in  the  West^  and  the  Constantinopolitan  Emperor  in  the 
East :  and  since  one  error  in  the  exposition  of  a  strictly 
chronological  prophecy  necessarily  introduces  many  oth- 
ers, he  imagines  with  Mr.  Mede,  that  the  king  of  the 
South  and  the  king  of  the  North  are  the  Saracens  and 
the  Turks*     Impressed  with  this  idea,  he  attributes  the 

*  I  cannot  refrain  from  observing,  what  seems  to  have  escaped  the  notice  of  my 
venerable  predecessors  Mede  and  Newton,  that,  if  the  king  of  th.e  South  if  the  Sa- 
VOL.  I.  3:] 


258 

conquests  of  the  infidel  king  to  the  northern  king  of  the 
lurks;  and  supposes  that  it  was  he  who  was  to  enter 
into  the  glorious  land,  to  stretch  forth  his  hand  upon  the 
countries,  and  to  make  himself  master  of  Egypt.  The 
fact  however  is,  as  the  context  suffinienrly  shews,  that  it 
is  not  the  king  of  the  North  who  is  to  invade  the  glori- 
ous land,  and  the  land  of  Egypt,  hut  his  rival  the  iniidel 
king.  Daniel  is  not  writing  a  history  either  of  the  king 
of'  the  Norths  or  of  the  king  oj  the  South,  but  of  the  king 
7vho  was  to  7nagnifij  himself  above  every  god.  Accord- 
ingly, he  faithfully  details  the  whole  of  this  king^s  event- 
ful historif,  from  its  original  commencement^  to  its  fnal 
termination.'^  His  adversaries,  the  king  of  the  ISJorth  and 
the  king  of  the  Souths  are  only  mentioned  as  inferior  act- 
ors in  this  great  drama.  Notwithstanding  the  rapid  at- 
tack of  the  northern  sovereign  and  the  apparently  more 
feeble  efforts  of  the  southern  prince,^  this  infidel  king  is 
nevertheless  to  overflow  and  pass  over,  to  enter  into  the 
glorious  land,  and  to  seize  upon  the  land  of  Egypt. 
Such  appears  to  me  to  be  the  most  natural  mode  of  ex- 
plaining the  prophecy  :  for,  unless  all  these  exploits  be 
attributed  to  the  infidel  king,  we  shall  be  obliged  to  ac- 
knowledge, that  Daniel  has  given  only  a  very  imperfect 
account  of  that  power  ;  an  account  extremely  different 
from  the  several  histories  of  the  two  little  horns.  In  both 
those  histories  we  have  a  regular  and  continued  narra- 
tive, conducting  us,  step  by  step,  from  the  rise  to  the  de- 
struction of  each  horn  :  but  here,  according  to  the  scheme 

racenic  empire,  it  is  very  singular  that  so  little  should  be  said  about  him,  and  so 
much  about  the  iing  of  the  North  wliom  they  suppose  to  denote  the  Turkish  empire. 
The  exploits  of  the  Saracens  were  at  least  as  wonderful  as  those  of  the  Turks  :  and, 
in  addition  to  their  other  amazingly  extensive  conquests,  the^  likewise,  no  less  than 
the  Turks,  made  themselves  masters  of  the  glorious  holy  land.  If  then  the  tings  of 
the  South  and  North  denote  the  Saracenic  and  Turkish  empires,  is  it  not  somewhat  sin- 
gular that  so  much  should  be  said  about  the  latter,  and  so  i-ery  little  about  the  former  ? 
According  to  the  scheme  which  I  veuture  to  oppose,  although  sanctioned  by  the 
eminent  names  of  Mede  and  Newton,  all  that  is  said  of  the  Saracens  is,"  A  king  of 
the  south  shall  butt  at  him  :"  while  six  long  -verses,  with  the  exception  of  these  few 
words  (in  the  original  only/o«r  -rrori/s,)  are  exclusively  devoted  to  the  Turks.  Where- 
as, according  to  my  scheme,  their  due  degree  of  importance  is  given  to  the  kings  of 
the  South  and  the  North  ;  while  the  iiftdel  king  appears,  from  beginning  to  end,  the 
consistent  hero  of  the  drama. 

♦  Ver.  .36.  f  Ver.  45. 

\  The  word,  by  which   the  attack  of  the  snuthern  king  is  described,  is  7132,  which 
.signifi  es  to  butt  or  strike  Hie  a  ram. 


25'9 

of  Mr.  Mede  and  Bp.  Newton,  we  have  only  a  mutilafed 
account  of  the  infidel  kitig,  commencing  indeed,  but  ab^ 
miptlif  breaking  off:  and,  instead  of  teaching  us  what 
shall  be  t/ie  end  of  that  monster,  only  informing  us  of  tJie 
destruction  of  the  northern  prince,  who  had  not  been 
previously  represented  as  having  committed  any  particu- 
lar crime  against  Heaven,  but  on  tlie  contrary  as  being 
laudably  engaged  in  opposing  with  all  his  forces  the  out- 
rageous tyranny  o{  the  at/ieistical  potentate. 

But,  even  supposing,  (what  I  think  the  context  will 
by  no  means  warrant)  that  the  king  of  the  North  and  not 
the  Infidel  king,  is  to  invade  Palestine  ;  still  the  chronol- 
ogy of  the  prophecy  will  abundantly  shew,  that  the 
whole  interpretation  of  Mr.  Mede  and  Bp.  Newton  must 
be  erroneous.  The  king,  i<oho  magnified  himself  above  ev' 
ery  god,  was  to  spring  up  after  the  reformation  ;  conse- 
quently all  his  exploits  must  be  after  the  reformation 
likewise  :  but,  if  his  wars  with  the  kings  of  the  South 
and  the  North  are  to  be  after  that  period,  they  cannot 
allude  to  the  contests  of  the  Eastern  Emperors  with  the 
Saracens  and  Turks,  which  were  before  it.  So  again  : 
the  prophet  carefully  informs  us,  that  all  these  events 
are  to  take  place  at  the  time  of  the  end,  and  that  they  are 
to  be  contemporary  with  the  restoration  of  the  Jews. 
But  the  time  of  the  end  commences  at  the  termination  of 
the  1260  years  :  consequently,  by  no  ingenuity  of  inter- 
pretation can  it  be  carried  back  to  the  very  beginning  of 
those  years  ;  that  is  to  say,  to  the  year  699,  in  which 
the  Saracens  first  attacked  the  Roman  empire,  and  which 
is  no  more  than  twenty-three  years  posterior  to  the  year 
606,  whence,  as  1  have  already  shewn,  the  1260  years 
ought  most  probably  to  be  dated.*  So  far  is  this  period 
from  being  the  time  of  the  end,^  the  time  appointed  for 
the  restoration  of  the  Jews,"^   that  near  twelve  centuries 

*  The  first  war  between  the  Saracens  and  the  Romans  commenced  in  the  year  629* 
Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  ix.  p.  312. 

f  "  At  the  time  of  the  end  a  king  of  the  south  shall  butt  at  him." 

\  "  At  that  time  thy  people  shall  be  delivered."  (Dan.  xii.  1.)  It  afterwards  ap- 
pears that  the  yeivs  will  begin  to  be  restored,  so  soon  as  the  three  times  and  a  half 
shall  have  expired.  "  Until  how  long  shall  be  the  end  of  the  wonders  .•" — It  shall 
be  until  a  time  and  times  and  a  half  :  and,  when  he  shall  have  finished  to  scatter 
the  power  of  the  holy  people,  all  these  things  shall  be  iinishec;!."     Ver,  5,  6. 


260 

have  now  elapsed   from  it,  and  still  we  behold  the  Jezi's 
scattered  over  the  face  of  the  earth. 

1  his  however  is  by  no  means  all.  Granting  for  a  mo- 
ment, merely  for  the  sake  of  argument,  that  the  time  of 
the  end  means  the  whole  1260  ijears^  that  the  king  of  the 
Norfh  is  the  Turk,  and  that  the  prophecy  has  been  ac- 
complished as  far  as  to  the  end  of  the  43d  verse,  which 
is  all  that  Mr.  Mede  and  Bp.  Newton  suppose  :*  still  the 
44th  and  4ath  verses  will  remain  yet  to  be  accomplish- 
ed, and  these  never  can  be  accomplished  in  the  Turk 
consistently  with  another  prophecy  which  foretells  his 
destruction.  I  will  say  nothing  of  the  extreme  improh- 
abWiiij,  that  the  Ottoman  power,  now  fast  verging  to  de- 
struction, should  ever  go  forth  with  great  fury  to  devote 
many  to  utter  extermination  on  a  religious  account, 
should  succeed  in  planting  the  curtains  of  his  pavilions 
between  the  seas  in  the  glorious  holy  mountain,  and 
should  there  finally  be  overthrown  :  of  the  utter  improba- 
hiiitif  of  all  this  I  will  say  nothing  ;  because  I  pretend 
not  to  the  gift  of  prophecy,  and  am  not  prepared  posi- 
tivelij  to  assert  that  such  an  event  is  absolutely  impossi- 
ble. But  this  1  will  fearlessly  assert,  that  the  time  as- 
signed for  the  destruction  of  the  power  which  (according 
to  Daniel)  will  come  to  its  end  in  Palestine,  let  it  be  the 
one  king  or  let  it  be  the  other  king,  cannot  be  made  to 
quadrate  with  the  time  assigned  by  St.  John  for  the  over- 
throw of  the  Ottoman  power  :  therefore  the  power,  that 
comes  to  its  end  in  Palestine,  cannot  be  the  Ottoman 
"power.  Let  us  compare  together  the  two  prophets. 
"  And  at  the  time  of  the  end  a  king  of  the  south  shall 
butt  at  him  ;  and  a  king  of  the  north  shall  come  against 
liim  : — and  he  shall  enter  into  the  countries  ; — -and  he 
shall  plant  the  curtains  oi  his  pavilions  between  the  seas 

*  It  is  true,  which  you  jjuess,  that  I  incline  to  apply  i^->i  ting  "f  t^^  nortUs  going 
forth  (upon  the  tidings  from  the  east  and  the  north  J  in  a  fury  to  destroy,  and  to  that  purpose 
to  plant  the  tabernacles  of  his  palaces  in  the  glorious  mountain  of  holiness,  to  the  Jacs  re- 
turn, and  the  expedition  of  Gog  and  Magog  into  the  holy  land."  (Mede's  Works  B.  iv. 
Epist.  54.)  I  think  Mr.  Mede  wrong  in  his  chronology  of  the  expedition  of  Gog  and 
jCl'jgcg,  as  I  attempt  to  prove  at  large  in  the  work  which  I  have  now  in  hand  con- 
cerning the  Restoration  of  Israel  and  the  overthroiv  of  toe  Anticbriitian  confederacy  :  but 
he  plainly  considers  the  two  last  verses  of  Dan.  xi.  as  yet  unfulfilled,  which  was  the 
purpose  for  which  I  made  this  citation.  Bp.  Newton  is  of  the  same  opinion.  "  The 
two  next,  which  are  the  two  last  verses  of  this  chapter,  I  conceive,  remain  yet  to  be 
fulfilled."    Dissert,  xvii.  in  Ice. 


261 

in  the  glorious  holy  mountain  :  yet  he  shall  come  to  his 
end,   and  none  shall  help  him.     And   at  that  time  shall 
IMichael  stand  up,   the  great   prince  which   standeth  tor 
the  children  of  thy  people  :  and  there  shall  be  a  time  of 
trouble  such  as  never  was  since  there  was  a  nation  even 
to  that  same   time  :  and  at  that  time  thy  people  shall  be 
delivered."     Here  let  us  pause,  and  ask,   At  what  time? 
The  expression  at  that  time  can  only  refer,   either  to  the 
time  of  the  end^   or  to  the  period  when  the  power  which 
h  id  occupied  the  hoUj  mountain  is  destroyed.      1  o  the  one^ 
or  I  he  other^   it  must  refer.     1  believe  it  myself  to  refer 
to  the  time  oj'  the  end  ;  because  1  believe  the  time  oj'  the 
end  to  commence,    when  the  1260  ijears  terminate.     To 
the  present  argument   however  this  is   immaterial  :  and, 
since  Mr.  Mede  and  Bp.  Newton  of  course  will  not  refer 
it  to  the  time  of  the  end^  they  must   refer  it  to  the  time 
Ziehen  the  ponder  in  question  perishes.*      This  power  they 
suppose  to  be  the  king  of  the  North.,   who  according  to 
their  idea  is  the  Ottoman  empiie.     Therefore  the  Ottoman 
empire   will  perish  at  the  time  when  Michael  stands  up, 
and  when  the  people  of  Daniel  or  the  Jews  begin  to  be 
delivered.      The  Jews  however,  as  Daniel  afterwards  in- 
forms us,  will  cease  to  be  scattered  when  all  the  wonders 
of  the  1260  daifs  shall  be  finished  :  but  all  those  wonders., 
he  says,  will  be  finished  at  the  end  o^  the  three  times  and  a 
half :  therefore   the  Jews  will  cease   to  be  scattered,  or 
begin  to  be  restored,  at  the  same  time.     But  we  had  al- 
ready arrived  at  the  conclusion,  \hAX  the  fall  of  the  iHto- 
man  empire  and   the  restoration  of  the  Jews  were  to  be 
contemporary.     Therefore  the  fall  of  the  Ottoman  empire., 
if  the  principles  of  Mr.  Mede  and  Bp.  Newton  be  just, 
which  I  deny,  must  take  place  at  the  end  oithe  three  tunes 
and  a  half  OT  the  \^60  years.     And  how  does  this  accord 
with  St.  John  ?   He  teaches   us,   that  the  confederacy  of 
the  beast.,  the  false  prophet,  and  the  kings  of  the  earth, 

*  So  accordingly  Mr.  Mede  does  refer  it.  See  the  last  citation  from  him.  Bp, 
Newton  does  the  same.  "  Betiveen  the  seas  in  the  glorious  holy  mountain  must  denote 
some  part  of  the  holy  land.  There  the  Turk  shall  encamp  with  all  his  power,  yet 
he  shall  come  to  his  end,  and  none  shall  help  him.  The  same  times  and  the  same 
events  seem  to  be  presignified  in  this  prophecy,  as  in  that  of  Ezekiel  concerning  Gog 
of  the  land  of  Magog  He  shall  come  up  against  the  people  ot  Israel  in  the  latter 
days  after  their  return  from  captivity — He  shall  also  fall  upon  the  mountains  of  Is- 
rael."    Dissert.  XVII.  in  loc. 


262 

shall  be  broken  at  Armageddon,  in  Palestine,  or  the  land 
which  extends  1600  furlongs,  under  the  seventh  viaU 
which  plainly  begins  to  be  poured  out  at  the  end  of  the 
1260  i/ears*  And  he  likewise  teaches  us,  Mr.  Mede 
himself  being  the  interpreter,  that  the  waters  of  the  Eu- 
phrates shall  be  dried  up,  or  that  the  Ottoman  empire 
shall  be  overthrown  under  the  sixth  vial,  at  some  indefi- 
nite period,  before  the  confederacy  begins  to  be  even 
gathered  together  to  Armageddon,  and  consequently 
much  more  at  some  indefinite  period  before  that  conjed- 
eracif  is  destroyed  at  Armageddon.  According  to  the 
scheme  then  which  I  am  opposing,  St.  John  tells  us, 
that  the  Ottoman  empire,  under  the  name  of  the  Euplira- 
tes  will  be  subverted  at  some  indefinite  period  before 
the  expiration  of  the  1260  years,  and  consequently  be- 
fore the  commencement  of  the  restoration  of  the  Jews^ 
but  a  period  long  enough  to  allow  of  the  gathering  to- 
gether of  the  bestial  confederacy  and  their  subsequent 
expedition  into  Palestine  :  while  Daniel  tells  us,  that 
the  Ottoman  empire,  under  the  name  of  a  king  of  the 
North,  will  be  destroyed  in  Palestine  after  the  expiration 
oi  the  1260  //ewr^,  because  contemporaneously  w\i\\  the 
restoration  of  the  Jews.  Thus  does  the  scheme,  which 
makes  the  king  of  the  North  to  be  the  Turk,  set  Daniel 
and  St.  John  at  direct  variance  :  and  hence,  even  sup- 
posing that  the  king  of  the  North,  and  not  the  wilful 
king,  is  to  perish  in  Palestine  at  the  end  of  the  1260 
years,  it  is  plain  that  the  power  which  perishes  after  Xh't 
expiration  of  that  period  cannot  be  the  Ottoman  empire 

*  Such  is  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Mede.  He  supposes  the  fnt  blast  of  the  seventh 
trumpet  and  the  frst  effusion  of  the  seventh  ■vial,  which  he  justly  calls  the  -vial  of  consum- 
mation, exactly  to  synchronize  ;  and  he  maintains,  that  at  this  era  the  three  times  and  a 
half  terminate.  Though,  as  1  have  already  observed,  I  prefer  Bp.  Newton's  arrange- 
ment of  the  seventh  trumpet,  I  think  Mr.  Mede's  opinion  indisputable  that  the  \  260 
days  expire  when  the  -vial  of  consummation  is  poured  out,  because  the  contents  of  that 
wa/ plainly  shew  that  it  relates  to  the  time  of  GoiTs  great  controversy  ivith  the  nations. 
But  this  great  controversy,  this  period  of  unexampled  trouble,  synchronizes,  according  to 
the  unanimous  testimony  of  all  the  prophets  who  treat  of  the  subject,  with  the  resto- 
ration of  the  y.~,cs  ,  which  restoration  commences,  according  to  Daniel,  at  the  close 
of  the  three  times  and  a  half :  therefore  the  contemporary  period  of  unexampled  troul/U 
must  commence  at  the  close  of  the  three  times  and  a  half;  and  consequently  the  effusion 
»f  the  seventh  vial,  which  treats  of  that  period,  must  likewise  commence  at  the  close 
of  the  three  times  and  a  half:  in  other  words,  the  seventh  vial  must  begin  to  be  poured 
out,  so  soon  as  the  three  times  nnda  half  or  the  1260  days  expire  ;  which  was  the  point 
asserted.  Compare  Mede's  Clav.  Apoc.  Par.  Alt.  Synch.  4,  5 — Comment.  Apoc.  in 
Tub.  vii.ct  Filial,  vii.-r-and  the  plate  at  the  end  of  his  Clavis. 


^63 

which  (according  to  St.  John)  will  be  subverted  before 
the  expiration  of  it. 

Yet  even  this  is  not  all.  Two  expeditions  into  the 
very  same  coimtrif^  attended  with  exactly  the  same  cir- 
cumstances^ can  scarcely  be  contemporary.  But  we  have 
abundant  reason  to  believe,  as  will  be  stated  at  large 
hereafter,  that  the  Roman  C07rfec/eracf/  oj' the  beast,  the 
false  prophet,  and  the  Icings  of  the  earth,  will  undertake 
such  an  expedition  into  Palestine,  as  is  here  described 
by  Daniel,  at  the  close  of  the  1260  years.  How  then 
can  the  Turk  undertake  exactly  such  another,  and  ex- 
actly at  the  same  time  ?  Perhaps  it  may  be  said,  the  two 
expeditions  will  form  only  one  allied  expedition.  How 
then  can  this  allied  expedition  have  tzoo  commanders  in 
chief?  In  the  Apocalypse  the  beast  under  his  last  head, 
which  most  commentators,  though  I  think  very  errone- 
ously, have  supposed  to  be  the  Papaci/,  is  the  command- 
er in  chief  ;*  and  not  a  hint  is  given  of  any  co-operation 
on  the  part  of  the  Turk  :  as  indeed  how  should  there, 
when  St.  John  had  told  us,  that  the  Ottoman  empire,  or 
the  mystic  Euphrates  had  been  previously  destroyed  T 
In  Daniel,  the  king  of  the  North  (still  arguing  according 
to  Mr.  Mede's  and  Bp.  Newton's  reference  of  the  expe- 
dition against  Palestine  to  the  king  of  the  North  and  not 
to  the  wilful  king  J  whom  they  suppose  to  be  the  Turk, 
is  the  commander  in  chief;  and  not  a  hint  is  given  of 
any  co-operation  on  the  part  of  the  beast :  when  yet, 
according  to  St.  John,  that  very  Turk  was  no  longer  in 
existence. 

*  The  reader  will  perhaps  be  inclined  to  think  from  the  present  aspect  of  af- 
fairs, that  //>£■  probability  of  the  Pope  being  commander  in  chief  of  a  vast  expedition  against 
Palestine  is  much  on  a  par  with  the  probability  of  the  Turk  being  commander  in  chief  of  a 
contemporaneous  expedition  against  the  same  country.  Yet  does  this  expectation  necessarily 
result  from  the  belief  that  the  ten-homed  apocalyptic  beast  is  the  Papacy  :  for  that  beast 
is  plainly  represented,  as  not  merely  taking  an  inferior  part  in  the  confederacy  of  the 
Latin  kings,  but  as  animating  and  heading  it.  According  to  the  light  in  which  /  view 
that  yet  unaccomplished  prophecy,  the  Pope  and  his  hierarchy,  or  the  false  prophet  who 
is  the  same  as  the  second  apocalyptic  beast,  will  be  more  or  less  indeed  concerned  and  in- 
terested in  this  expedition  against  the  land  that  extends  1600  furlongs:  nay,  with 
Mr.  Whitaker,  I  even  think  it  not  improbable,  that  Jerusalem  may  finally  be  the  seat 
of  the  apostate  man  of  sin  :  but  the  poiver,  that  will  form  the  confederacy  of  vassal 
kmgs  and  head  the  expedition  into  Palestine,  namely  the  Roman  beast  under  his  last  head, 
I  certainly  believe  to  be  a  very  diflerent  power  from  the  Papacy.  But  this  matter 
will  be  discussed  at  large  hereafter,  when  I  consider  the  character  of  the  i%vo  ap»- 

calapti;  beasts. 


264 

Since  then  the  king  of  the  North  plainly  cannot  he 
the  Turk,  and  since  consequently  the  actions,  which  Mr. 
Mecie  and  Bp.  Newton  ascribe  to  the  Idng  of  the  Nor/hy 
cannot  have  been  performed  by  the  Turk;  since  more- 
over, as  /  will  venture  to  athrm,  if  the  actions  ascrib^-d 
to  the  king  of  the  North  were  not  performed  by  the  Tark. 
they  were  never  performed  by  awj  l;ing  of  the  North, 
and  if  not  by  ani/  king  of  the  North  certainly  not  by  «;?// 
poxcer  which  may  be  deemed  the  antitype  of  the  wUfid 
king  :  it  will  follow,  that  all  these  actions,  whether  per- 
formed by  the  wiful  king  as  /  suppose,  or  by  the  king  of 
the  North  as  Mr.  Mede  and  Bp.  Newton  suppose,  are 
still  future  ;  which  will  bring  me  back  to  the  point 
whence  I  set  out,  namely  that  the  period  to  which  they 
are  ascribed  is  future  likewise  ;  in  other  words  that  the 
time  of  the  end  denotes  some  future  period,  which  (as  I 
have  already  attempted  to  shew)  there  is  reason  to  think 
commences  when  the  1260  years  terminate. 

In  fact,  the  only  expedition  undertaken  against  Pales- 
tine at  the  close  of  the  I960  if  ears  and  contemporane- 
ously with  the  restoration  of  the  Jews,  an  expedition  no- 
ticed by  almost  every  prophet  that  treats  of  the  resto'a- 
tion  of  the  Jews,*  is  plainly  the  expedition  undertaken 
by  the  Roman  confederacy  of  the  beast  the  false  prophet 
and  the  kings  of  the  Latin  earth.  Hence,  since  Daniel 
predicts  an  expedition  undertaken  against  the  ^«w<?  coun- 
try and  at  the  same  time  either  by  the  infidel  king,  or  by 
the  king  of  the  North,  this  expedition  must  be  the  same 
as  that  mentioned  in  the  Apocalypse  :  consequently  it 
must  be  undertaken  by  that  king  who  may  be  considered 
as  the  dominant  Roman  power.  But  the  king  of  t lie  North, 
unless  I  greatly  mistake,  is  not  a  Roman  power  :  whereas 
the  wilful  king,  according  to  mij  interpretation  of  his 
character,  is  the  greatest  of  the  Roman  powers.  For 
these  various  reasons,  deduced  from  a  general  survey  of 

*  This  point  is  fullv  considered  in  mv  unpublished  work  on  the  7-csiorai:oti  cf  Is- 
rael and  the  destruction  of  Antichrist.  The  Jewish  Rabbies  themselves  have  collected 
from  their  own  prophets,  that  the  restoration  of  their  countrymen  will  synchronize  with 
the  destruction  of  the  Roman  poivcr  in  its  last  form  ;  and  they  SCrupIe  not  :o  maintain, 
that  the  Edom,  whose  overthrow  is  represented  as  bein.^  contemporary  v/ith  the  return 
of  the  chosen  people,  denotei  that  po-wer.  (Sce  isaiah  Ixii.  Jxiii.)  I  believe  them  to  bf 
perfectly  right  in  their  opinion. 


S65 

the  context  of  this  and  other  prophecies,  I  concludej 
that  the  expedition,  certainly  will  be  undertaken,  not  by 
t/fe  king  of  the  North,  but  by  the  injidel  king  :  and  I  ap- 
prehend it  was  from  some  such  general  survey  of  the 
different  prophecies,  which  treat  at  once  oi  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Je'^s  and  the  contemporaneous  destruction  of 
some  great  enemij  of  God  in  Palestine,  that  the  ancient 
fathers  believed  that  Antichrist  was  destined  to  perish  in 
that  country  ;  an  opinion,  which  Bp.  Horsley,  and  I 
think  very  rightly,  judges  to  be  well  founded.* 

But  it  may  be  said,  if  1  maintain,  that  the  infidel  king 
is  atheistical  France,  that  the  predicted  expedition  into 
Palestine  will  be  undertaken  by  the  infidel  king,  and  that 
this  predicted  expedition  about  to  be  undertaken  by  the 
infidel  king  is  the  same  as  the  contemporary  expedition 
about  to  be  undertaken  into  the  land  that  extends  1 600 
furlongs  by  aconfederaci/  of  the  beast  under  his  last  head 
the  false  prophet  and  the  kings  of  the  earth  :  if  1  main- 
lain  these  various  connected  positions,  it  will  necessa- 
rily follow,  that,  at  the  time  of  the  expedition,  the  infi- 
del kin^  must  have  become  the  same  as  the  beast  under 
his  last  head.  Such  appears  undoubtedly  to  be  the  con- 
sequence of  this  train  of  comparative  reasoning.  1  must 
at  present  however  decline  saying  any  thing  more  on  the 
subject,  as  1  purpose  to  resume  it  after  1  have  discussed 
the  character  of  the  seven-headed  apocalijptic  beast,  and 
when  1  treat  of  the  events  foretold  under  the  last  vial. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  remark,  that,  whenever  the 
mystic  Euphrathm  nvaters  are  exhausted  under  the  sixth, 
apocalijptic  vial,  or  in  other  words  whenever  the  Ottoman 
empire  is  overthrown,  it  will  greatly  assist  us  in  explain- 
ing both  the  present  prophecy  of  Daniel,  and  another  of 
Ezekiel  which  many,  though  I  believe  erroneously,  have 
thought  to  be  parallel  to  it.  Both  Mr.  Mede  and  Bp. 
Newton  suppose,  that  the  events  predicted  in  Dan.  xi. 
44',  45,  which  they  refer  to  the  king  of  the  North,  are  the 
same  as  those  predicted  in  Ezek.  xxxviii,  xxxix  ;  and 
they  both  equally  suppose,  that  those  two  prophecies 
will  be  accomplished  in  some  yet  future  expedition  of 

^  .Letter  on  Isaiah  rriii,  p.  103. 
vor.    T.  34 


^66 

(he  Turk  into  Palestine  at  the  era  of  the  restoration  of 
the  Jezi's.  1  have  just  explicitly  avowed  my  total  dissent 
from  them,  and  have  very  fully  given  my  reasons  for 
such  dissent  :  according  however  to  all  appearances, 
though  I  presume  not  to  say  hoio  soon,*  not  many  years 
will  elapse  before  the  question  is  decided  between  us  for 
ever,  [{the  Ottoman  empire  fall,  as  1  myself  firmly  be- 
lieve it  t(y///do,  without  undertaking  the  predicted  expe- 
dition into  Palestine  contemporaneously  with  the  return 
of  the  Jews  ;  we  shall  then  be  sure,  that  it  cannot  be  the 
subject  o{  either  of  the  two  prophecies,  whether  the  two 
relate  to  the  same  event  or  not  to  the  same  event.  And, 
if  it  should  prove  not  to  be  the  sultject  of  the  prophecy 
contained  in  Dan.  xi.  44,  4d,  which  of  course  it  cannot 
be  unless  it  fulfil  that  prophecy  by  undertaking  the  ex- 
pedition into  Palestine  ;  then  neither  can  it  be  the  sub- 
ject of  the  prophecy  contained  in  Dan.  xi.  40 — 43.  And, 
if  it  be  not  the  subject  o^  that  prophecy  ;  then  it  cannot 
be  the  king  of  the  Norths  to  whom  the  entering  into  the 
countries  and  all  that  follows  is  ascribed,  erroneously  in- 
deed I  believe,  by  Mr.  Mede  and  Bp.  Newton.  And, 
\{  the  Ottoman  power  be  not  the  king  of  the  North  ;  then 
neither  can  the  Saracenic  pozi^er  be  the  king  of  the  South. 
In  short,  unless  the  now  debilitated  Turk  shall  perform  at 
some  future  period  all  that  is  predicted  in  Dan.  xi.  44,  45, 
which  both  Mr.  Mede  and  Bp.  Newton  allow  to  be  yet 
unaccomplished  ;  their  whole  exposition  of  Dan.  xi.  36 — 
4o  will  be  untenable. 

*  The  Tnriisb  empirs  seems  at  present  to  exist,  balanced  as  it  were  between  the 
jealousy  of  France  and  Russia  ;  and,  what  is  more,  its  crisis,  so  far  as  human  fore- 
sight can  calculate,  seems  very  rapidly  approacliing.  The  usurper  is  claiming  all 
the  Turkish  provinces  that  ever  belonged  to  the  Venetian  republic  ;  and,  if  France 
and  Russia  seriously  measure  their  strength,  it  will  most  probably  be  upon  Ottoman 
ground.  Can  an  empire,  which  totters  to  its  very  base,  and  which  is  faintly  strug- 
gling with  open  rebellion,  stand  the  shock  of  two  such  conflicting  rivals  ?  Unless  I 
greatly  mistake,  the  route  of  Antichrist  or  the  infJel  iing  to  Palestine  will  be  through 
the  northern  provinces  of  Tiiriey  and  Asia  minor.  Here  the  king  of  the  South  will  butt 
at  him  :  and  here  the  more  mighty  ting  of  the  North  will  come  against  him  like  an 
impetuous  whirlwind,  not  only  with  land  forces,  but  ■v\'ith  many  ships  to  prevent  his 
crossing  the  Constantinopolitan  strait.  Yet,  in  despite  of  this  resistance,  he  shall 
overflow  the  countries  like  a  torrent  and  safely  "  pass  over."  Wonderful  is  the 
concurrence  of  facts  with  prophecy  !  Even  now  we  behold  the  monster,  who  at  one 
period  seemed  effectually  excludtd  from  Turkey  by  the  powerful  intervention  of 
Austria,  hanging  upon  the  frontiers  of  the  Ottcman  empire,  and  devouring  by  antici- 
pation his  devoted  prey.     June  3,  180(?. 


y^ 


^G7 

Since  then  the  infidel  king  is  to  spring  up  after  the  rC" 
formation  and  to  continue  to  the  time  of  the  end^   when 
he  is  to  undertake  an  expedition  against   Palestine,  we 
must  look  for  his  two  antagonists,  the  kings  of  the  South 
and  the  North,  after  the  reformation  also.     And  here  it 
may  be  observed,  that,  since  the  king  of  the  North  is  no 
where  said  to  be  a  horn  of  the  fourth  beast,  we  may  seek 
him  either  imthin  or  without  the  limits  of  the  ancient  Ro- 
man e'npire,  according  as  we  are  directed  by  existing  cir- 
cumstances.    The  same  remark  applies  with  equal  force 
to  the  king  of  the  South.     Now,  when  we  consider  that 
near  twelve  centuries  have  elapsed  since  the  rise  of  the 
great  Apostacy  in  the  year  606,  and  consequently  (if  this 
be  the  true  date  of  it)  that  it  has  to  continue   but  little 
more  than  60  years  ;  when    we  next   recollect,  that  the 
king  of  the  North  is  to  be  contemporary  with  the  injidel 
king,   whose  primarif  rise  must  be  dated  from  the  year 
17t>9  when  the  French  revolution  commenced,  who  was 
fully  revealed  in  the  year  1792  when  the  reign  of  athe- 
ism and  anarchy  began,*  and  whose  overthrow  will  begin 
to  take  place  at  the  end  of  the  1260  years  ;  when  from 
this  circumstance  we  obviously  deduce,  that  the  king  of 
the  North  is  to  be  the  most  powerful  northern  sovereignty 
of  Europe  that  shall   be  in  existence  between  the  years 
17S9  and  1866,  at  which  last  period  the  1260  years  ter- 
minate if  they  be  dated  from  the  year  60%  ;  and  when  we 
lastly  advert  to  the  existing  and  probably  future  state  of 
the   great  European  commonwealth,    we   can    scarcely 
doubt  but  that  the  king  of  the  North  is  the  colossal  mon- 
archy of  Russia.     What  state  is  meant  by  the  king  of  the 
South,  is  not  quite  so  easy  to  determine. 

As  for  the  predicted  wars  of  the  infidel  power  with 
these  two  sovereigns,  none  of  them  have  yet  received 
their  accomplishment.  The  prophet  begins  his  account 
of  them  with  declaring,  that  they  shall  happen  at  the 
time  of  the  end.  The  time  therefore  is  not  yet  :  for  the 
1260  yeurs  have  not  yet  elapsed,  consequently  the  time 
of  the  end'\%  not  yet  come.  Assuredly  however  will  An- 
tichrist hereafter  invade  Palestine  in  conjunction  with 

*  These  dates  \7ill  be  fuUy  discussed  hereafter. 


268 

the  false  prophet  and  the  kings  of  the  Latin  earth  :  and, 
though  tidings  out  of  the  East  and  out  of  the  North* 
may  trouble  him,  will  succeed  in  planting  the  curtains 
of  his  pavilions  betzoeen  the  seas'\  in  the  glorious  holy 
mountain  :  yet,  notwithstanding  the  temporary  prosper- 
ity of  his  affairs,  he  shall  come  to  his  end,  and  none  shall 
help  him.  The  series  of  events,  which  terminates  with 
the  destruction  of  the  monster  and  his  confederated  host, 
will  be  contemporary  with  the  restoration  of  the  Jews. 
At  the  close  oi  the  1260  years,  and  at  the  commence- 
ment of  that  intermediate  period  styled  by  Daniel  the 
time  of  the  end.  Antichrist  will  undertake  the  expedition 
which  will  terminate  in  his  destruction  ;  and  at  that  same 
period  the  Jews  will  begin  to  be  restored. |'  Fqw  there- 
fore of  the  present  generation  can  expect  to  behold  even 
the  beginning  of  the  expedition  :  none  can  hope  to  wit- 
ness his  predicted  invasion  of  Palestine,  his  capture  of 
Jerusalem,  his  tremendous  destruction  between  the  two 
seas.^     Awful   as  the  scenes  have  been,  which  we  have 

*  Daniel  teaches  us,  that  he  will  hear  these  tidings  out  of  the  East  and  out  of  the 
North,  while  engaged  in  the  conquest  of  Egypt.  Now  we  have  reason  to  believe, 
that  a  large  body  of  the  Jeivs  will  be  restored  in  a  converted  state  by  some  great 
maritime  poiuer.  Suppose  then  that  these  Jewish  converts  and  their  protectors 
should  land  in  Palestine,  while  Antichrist  was  in  Egypt,  the  tidings  of  such  a  circum- 
stance must  undoubtedly  come  to  him  out  of  the  East  and  out  of  the  North.  But 
the  series  of  events,  here  detailed  by  Daniel,  are  considered  at  large  in  the  work 
which  1  am  now  preparing  for  the  press  on  ^-61?  restoration  of  Israel  and  the  destruction 
of  Antichrist.     To  that  work  I  beg  to  refer  the  reader. 

f   The  dead  sea  and  the  Mediterranean  sea,  between  which  Jerusalem  is  situated. 

^  Dan.  xi.  40.  xii.  1,  6,  7.  That  the  declaration  contained  in  these  two  last  verses 
relates  to  the  commence-ment  and  not  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  restoration  of  Judah, 
in  other  words,  that  Judah  will  only  begin  to  be  restored  at  the  end  of  the  three  times 
and  a  half,  is  manifest  from  the  following  statement.  We  are  taught  in  Dan.  xii.  1, 
that  the  Jews  will  be  delivered  at  the  same  time  (according  as  we  understand  the 
passage,)  either  v,-ith  the  commencement  of  the  infidel  king's  expedition  in  Dan.  xi.  40, 
or  witli  his  overthroiv  in  Dan.  xi.  45.  The  last  supposition  is  forbidden  by  other  par- 
rallel  prophecies,  which  represent  the  Jews  as  being  already  in  their  own  land  at  the 
time  that  the  Anticliristian  confederacy  is  broken  :  consequently,  they  must  have 
begun  to  be  restored  previous  to  its  being  thus  broken.  The_yfrrf  supposition  there- 
fore must  be  adopted ;  whence  it  will  follow,  that  the  Jews  begin  to  be  restored  con- 
temporaneously with  the  commencement  of  tlie  infidel  king's  expedition.  But  this  ex- 
pedition commences  at  the  time  of  the  end  (Dan.  xi.  40.)  :  and  the  time  of  the  end  commen- 
ces at  the  expiration  of  the  1260  years  :  therefore  the  expedition  commences  at  the  ex- 
piration of  the  I'JGO  years  .-  and  therefore  the  restoration  of  the  Jews,  which  com/nen- 
ces  with  the  commencement  of  the  expedition,  must  necessarily  commence,  not  ht  perfected^ 
at  the  expiration  of  the  1260  years  likewise. 

§  I  speak  only  as  supposing  my  date  of  the  1 260  yean  to  be  the  true  one.  Should 
T  be  so  mistaken  in  the  date,  as  that  the  1 260  years  expire  sooner  than  I  expect,  these 
^wful  eveots  will  of  course  take  place  proportionably  earlier  likewise. 


S69 
• ••• 

beheld  as  it  were  with  our  own  eves,  a  yet  more  dread- 
ful prospect  exlentls  before  us,  ere  the  bless^  d  reign  of 
Christ  upon  earth  shall  commence.  The  revealing  an- 
gel, who  shews  to  Daniel  thutzohich  is  noted  in  the  Scrip- 
ture of  truths  concludes  his  prophetic  narrative  with  in- 
forming him  ;  that,  at  the  period  during  which  the  athe- 
istical tyrant  is  destroyed,  and  the  Jews  are  restored, 
"  there  shall  be  a  time  of  trouble^  such  as  never  was  since 
there  was  a  nation  even  to  that  same  time"  Nor  can  we 
wonder,  that  that  era  should  be  marked  with  peculiarly 
horrible  events,  when  we  recollect  that  it  is  to  witness 
the  dying  struggles,  not  only  of  Atheism^  but  likewise  of 
Popery  and  Mohummedism.  It  is  an  era  however,  which 
will  be  terrible  only  to  the  enemies  of  the  Church  of 
Christ.  Those,  who  have  come  out  of  the  mystic  Baby- 
lon, and  have  refrained  from  polluting  themselves  with 
the  Antichristian  abominations  of  hifidelity^  will  not  be 
partakers  of  her  last  plagues* 

Thus  have  we  seen,  that  this  favoured  servant  of  God 
has,  with  inimitable  simplicity  and  wonderful  accuracy, 
given  us  three  distinct  paintings  of  three  great  enemies 
of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  ;  Popery^  Mohammedism,  and 
French  Atheism.  The  tvao  Jirst^  being  (to  use  Dean 
Prideaux's  expression)  the  two  feet  of  the  great  Aposfa- 
cy  with  which  it  trampled  both  upon  the  East  and  the 
West  during  the  same  period  of  1260  years,  are  repre- 
sented by  the  kindred  symbols  of  tzoo  little  horns  ;  for 
Popery  and  Mohammedism  had  these  features  in  com- 
mon, that  they  were  each  a  less  or  a  greater  deflexion 
from  pure  Christianity,  and  that  they  each  equally  af- 
fected to  act  not  contrary  to  the  will  of  Heaven  but  ten- 
der its  immediate  sanction  :  while  the  last,  being  com- 
pletely a  monster  sui  generis,  the  verij  Antichrist  pre- 
dicted by  St.  John  ;  the  last,  as  if  no  symbol  could  be 
found  adequate  to  describe  the  enormous  wickedness  of 
his  character  ;  the  lust  is  exhibited  to  our  view  by  no 
hieroglyphic,  but  stands  confessed  in  all  his  native  hor- 
rors, as  a  king  who  should  magnfif  himself  above  every 
god,  who  should  speak  marvellous  things  against  the  God 

*  The  whole  of  this  subject  will  be  more  fully  discussed  hereafter, 


270 

of  gods,  xoho  slwuld  neither  regard  the  god  of  his  fathers^ 
the  desire  of  women,  nor  any  god,  but  who,  instead  of  the 
Lord  of  hosts,  should  impious! ij  honour  tutelary  deities, 
and  especially  venerate  a  strange  god  whom  his  less  dar- 
ing fathers  of  the  Apostacy  never  knezv. 

1  shall  now  proceed  to  examine  the  kindred  prophe- 
cies of  St.  John,  who,  like  his  illustrious  predecessor 
Daniel,  foretells,  with  the  addition  of  various  more  mi- 
nute circumstances,  that  the  Church  shall  be  in  a  depress- 
ed state  during  the  1260  years  of  a  great  Apostacy  from 
the  simj)licity  of  the  Gospel. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

Of  the  four  first  apocalyptic  trumpets. 

AS  the  nature  of  my  subject  confines  me  to 
those  parts  of  the  Apocalypse  which  treat  of  the  1260 
years  of  the  great  Apostacy,  I  shall  pass  over  in  silence 
the  contents  oi  the  six  first  seals,  and  commence  my 
observations  from  the  last  seal  which  comprehends  all 
the  seven  trumpets, 

"  And,  when  he  had  opened  the  seventh  seal,  there 
was  silence  in  heaven  about  the  space  of  half  an  hour. 
And  I  saw  the  seven  angels  which  stood  before  God  ; 
and  to  them  were  given  seven  trumpets.  And  another 
angel  came  and  stood  at  the  altar,  having  a  golden  cen- 
ser :  and  there  was  given  unto  him  much  incense,  that 
he  should  offer  it  with  the  prayers  of  all  saints,  upon 
the  golden  altar  which  was  before  thft  throne.  And 
the  smoke  of  the  incense,  which  came  with  the  prayers 
of  the  saints,  ascended  up  before  God  out  of  the  angel's 
hand.  And  the  angel  took  the  censer,  and  filled  it 
with  fire  of  the  altar,  and  cast  k  into  the  earth  :  and 
there  were  voices,  and  thundermgs,  and  lightnings,  and 
an  earthquake." 

The  prophet  had  already,  under  the  sixth  seal,  pre- 
dicted the  conversion  of  the  Roman  emjnre  to  Christi- 


■Ml 


271 

anity  in  the  days  of  Constantine,  the  downfall  of  pagan- 
ism, and  the  tranquillity  which  the  Church  enjoyed  for 
a  season  after  her  manifold  troubles  and  persecutions  * 
The  opening  of  the  seventh  seal  is  the  prelude  to  the 
disturbing  of  that  tranquillity,  the  harbinger  of  the  down- 
fall of  ^/?e  Western  empire,  the  herald  of  the  revealing  of 
the  man  of  sin.  The  year  313  was  marked  by  the  fa- 
mous edict  of  Constantine  in  favour  of  Christianity :  in 
this  year  therefore  the  tranquillity  of  the  Church  com- 
menced. No  great  length  of  time  however  elapsed  be- 
fore the  peace  of  the  Empire  began  to  be  broken  by  the 
incursions  of  the  northern  barbarians  about  the  years  321 
and  323.  At  this  period  1  conceive  the  seventh  seal  to 
have  been  opened,  and  the  silence  of  half  an  hour  or  ra- 
ther of  half  a  season  to  have  commenced. -f  As  the 
seventh  seal  introduces  those  first  incursions  of  the  Goths 
that  took  place  after  the  beginning  of  the  Church'^s  tran- 
quillity, incursions  which  were  easily  repelled  by  the 
yet  vigorous  government  of  the  Empire ;  so  the  silence 
seems  to  denote  the  state  of  mute  and  anxious  expectation 
in  which  the  Church  anticipated,  as  it  were,  from  vari- 
ous less  important  invasions,  the  grand  irruption  of  the 
Gothic  monarch  Alaric  and  his  associates  under  the  first 
trumpet.  The  period  then  of  the  half  season  describes 
the  arfairs  of  the  Church  and  the  Empire  from  about 
the  year  323  to  the  year  3 9  J. 

What  the  Church  gained    in  outward  splendor  and 
prosperity  under  Constantine,  she  lost  in  purity  of  man- 

*  Rev.  vi.  12 — 17.  vii.  1 — 17.  See  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  in  loc.  I  cannot  but 
think  however,  that  his  Lordship  extends  the  season  of  tranquillity,  predicted  in  tbs 
se^jenth  chapter,  much  too  far,  in  supposing  it  to  reach  from  the  reign  of  Constantine 
to  the  death  of  Theodosius,  when  the  jlrst  trumpet  began  to  sound.  Such  an  opin- 
ion neither  accords  with  facts,  nor  with  the  tenor  of  the  prophecy.  If  we  advert 
to  facts,  we  shail  find,  that  the  peace  of  the  Church  began  to  be  disturbed  even 
during  tlie  life  of  Constantine  by  the  heresy  of  Arius,  and  afterwards  by  the  aposta- 
cy  of  JuHan.  If  we  advert  to  the  prophecy,  we  shall  find,  that  the  scheme  in 
question  makes  the  tranquillity  of  the  sixth  seal  synchronize  for  the  mpst  part  with  thx 
silence  introduced  by  the  opening  of  the  se-venth  seal.  No'W',  since  the  tranquillity  is  placed 
under  the  sixth  seal,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  it  is  considered  as  terminating, 
when  the  se^jentb  seal  is  opened,  which  introduces  no  scenes  of  peace,  but  a  mute 
and  anxious  expectation  of  the  calamities  soon  about  to  fall  upon  the  Roman  em- 
pire under  the  trumpets.  History  shews,  that  this  supposition  is  just ;  for  we  can 
scarcely  consider  that  as  a  period  of  much  tranquillity  to  the  Church  which  was 
at  once  disturbed  by  the  quarrels  of  the  Consubstantialists  and  the  Arians,  the 
malignity  of  Julian,  and  the  perpetual  incursions  of  the  Goths. 

f  I  shall  take  occasion  hereafter  to  discuss  the  imnort  of  the  word  hi'ir. 


272 

ners  and  doctrine.  The  holy  simplicity  of  primitive 
Christianity  was  no  more,  and  the  heresy  of  Arius  in- 
troduced a  succession  of  crimes  disgraceful  alike  to  hu- 
manity and  religion.  Accordingly,  before  the  sounding  of 
the  trumpets  commences,  the  state  of  the  world  at  that 
period  is  foretold  by  an  emblem  most  significant  of  the 
corruptions  then  prevailing  among  Christians.  Much  in- 
cense is  offered  from  a  golden  censer  along  with  the 
prayers  of  the  Church,  in  order  to  shew  how  much  pu- 
rification those  prayers  required  ere  they  were  meet 
to  be  presented  before  the  throne  of  grace  ;  and  the 
placing  of  this  circumstance  "  immediately  before  the 
sounding  of  the  trumpets  suggests,  that  the  subject  of 
these  prayers  was  the  aversion  of  something  to  be  called 
for  by  those  trumpets  :  and  what  could  this  be,  but  that 
of  the  destruction  oi  the  Roman  empire,  ^ov  the  duration 
of  which  we  know  the  ancient  Christians  were  wont  to 
pray  ?  It  is  plainly  suggested,  that  the  petition  for  some 
delay  would  be  accepted  ;  yet  all  further  applications  on 
that  head  are  discouraged  by  a  most  significant  emblem, 
that  of  the  censer  being  cast  awaij  :  while  the  filling  ojf 
it  with  Jire  from  the  altar^''  the  well  known  symbol  of 
divine  wrath,  "  but  too  plainly  indicates,  that  the  suc- 
ceeding troubles  should  at  least  be  forwarded  by  those 
zcho  minister  at  the  altar ;  and  the  immediate  succession 
of  voices,  and  thunderings,  and  lightnings,  and  an  earth- 
quake, manifest,  that,  though  the  sounding  of  the  trum- 
pets should  be  deferred,  yet  some  judgments  should  im- 
mediately follow."* 

Upon  referring  to  history  we  find,  that  the  incursions 
of  the  northern  barbarians  gradually  became  more  and 
more  formidable.  Between  the  years  365  and  ^1^,  an 
almost  perpetual  war  was  carried  on  between  them  and 
the  Romans  with  various  success  :  and  in  the  last  of  these 
years,  when  the  Empire  seemed  on  the  point  of  being 
completely  overrun  and  dismembered,  Gratian  associated 
with  himself  Ml  the  imperial  dignity  the  famous  Theodo- 
sius.  By  the  successful  valour  of  this  warlike  prinre, 
the  sounding  of  thejirst  trumpet,  and  the  impending  ruin 

*  Whjtaker's  Comment,  p.  80. 


^73 

of  the  Empire,  were  delayed  for  sixteen  years  :  but  *'  th^ 
genius  of  Rome  expired  with  Theodosius,  the  last  of  the 
successors  of  Augustus  and  Constantine,  who  appeared 
in  the  field  at  the  head  of  their  armies,  and  whose  au- 
thority was  universally  acknowledged  throughout  the 
whole  extent  of  the  Empire."* 

"  And  the  seven  angels,  which  had  the  seven  trumpetSj 
prepared  themselves  to  sound." 

The  four  first  trumpets  describe  the  removal  of  that 
power,  which  in  the  days  of  St.  Paul  letted  or  prevented 
the  developement  of  the  man  of  sin,  namely  the  western 
imperial  dignity  of  Rome  :  while  the  three  last,  which 
are  awfully  styled  the  three  woes,  detail  the  history  of 
the  great  twofold  Apostacif  both  in  the  East  and  in  the 
West ;  exhibit  the  man  of  sin  in  the  plentitude  of  his 
power,  upheld  by  the  secular  arm,  and  tyrannizing  over 
the  Church  of  Christ  ;  predict  his  complete  destruction 
at  Armageddon,  in  the  very  act  of  opposing  the  x\lmigh- 
ty  conjointly  with  his  temporal  colleague  the  ten-horned 
beast  or  revived  Roman  empire  ;  and  finally  bring  us  to 
the  period,  when  all  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  be- 
come the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ. 

"  The  first  angel  sounded  :  and  there  followed  hail  and 
fire  mingled  with  blood,  and  they  were  cast  upon  the 
earth  ;  and  the  third  part  of  the  trees  was  burnt  up,  and 
all  green  grass  was  burnt  up." 

Throughout  a  great  part  of  the  prophecy  of  the  truni' 
pets^  the  Roman  empire  is  denominated  the  third  pari 
of  the  whole  symbolical  universe,  as  including  the  third 
part  of  the  then  known  world,  and  as  being  seated  prin- 
cipally in  Europe  which  at  that  time  was  accounted  tlie 
third  part  of  the  world. "j"  Hail  and  lightning  mingled 
with  blood  denote  a  tremendous  tempest  of  desolating  ze)ar 
and  foreign  invasion.     The  storm  therefore,  which  is  here 

*  Hist,  of  Decline,  Vol.  v.  p.  137. 
f  See  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  Rev.  viii.  and  Waple  and  Whiston  in  loc.  Mn 
Bicheno  conjectures,  that  the  expression  the  third  part,  which  occurs  so  frequently 
in  this  portion  of  the  Apocalypse,  is  used  in  allusion  to  the  three  prefectures  of  the 
Roman  empire.  History  however  will  not  bear  him  out.  We  do  not  find,  that 
tne  particular  prefecture  was  affected  exclusively  by  the  blast  of  one  particular  trumpet, 
which  the  adoption  of,  such  a  scheme  necessarily  requires :  on  the  contrary,  the 
miseries  introduced  by  at  least  the  first  trumpet  extended  more  or  Ises  to  all  the  thrtf 
prefectures.    Sigus  of  the  times,  Part  iij,  p.  153. 

VOL.  I.  "35 


^74 

represented  as  falling  upon  the  earth  or  Komim  empire, 
typifies  that  grand  compound  irruption  oj' the  barbarous 
northern  nations^  from  the  effects  of  which  the  Roman 
empire  never  recovered  itself,  as  it  had  done  from  those 
of  the  foregoing  irruptions.  In  the  natural  world  a  storm 
is  frequently  preceded  by  a  calm  :  hence  in  the  figura- 
tive world  the  great  hail-storm  mingled  with  lightning  is 
represented  as  being  preceded  by  silence.  This  silence 
however  is  not  so  deep,  but  that  the  latter  part  of  it  is 
interrupted  both  by  thunderings,  and  lightnings,  and  an 
earthquake,*  the  immediate  harbingers  of  Me  hail-storm. 
Accordingly  we  find,  that  the  fierce  Gothic  tribes  though 
perpetually  at  war  with  the  Romans,  and  though  threat- 
ening to  overwhelm  them  by  repeatedly  violating  the 
long  extent  of  the  northern  frontier,  were  for  a  time  re- 
strained by  the  genius  of  Theodosius  :f  but,  upon  the 
decease  of  this  great  prince  in  the  year  39j>  the  northern 
cloudy  which  had  so  long  been  gathering,  discharged  it- 
self with  irresistible  fury  upon  the  Empire.  "  He  died 
in  the  month  of  January  ;  and  before  the  end  of  the  same 
year  the  Gothic  nation  was  in  arms — The  barriers  of  the 
Danube  were  thrown  open  :  the  savage  warriors  of  Scy- 
thia  issued  from  their  forests  ;  and  the  uncommon  se- 
verity of  the  winter"  (the  season  in  which  natural  hail 
and  snow  are  generated)  "  allowed  the  poet  to  remark, 
that  they  rolled  their  ponderous  waggons  over  the  broad 
and  icy  back  of  the  indignant  river — The  fertile  fields  of 
Phocis  and  Beotia  were  covered  with  a  deluge  of  barba- 
rians, who  massacred  the  males  of  an  age  to  bear  arms, 
and  drove  away  the  beautiful  females  with  the  spoil  and 
cattle  of  the  flaming  villages."  The  whole  territory  of 
Athens  was  blasted  by  the  baleful  presence  of  Alaric  ; 
and  "  the  travellers,  who  visited  Greece  several  years  af- 
terwards, could  easily  discover  the  deep  and  bloody  traces 
of  the  march  of  the  Goths."+ 

Such  were  the  first  effects  of  the  symbolical  hail-storm. 
Having  thus  ravaged   Greece,  it  was  next  carried  into 

*  Rev.  viii.  5. 
•f  "  As  the  impatient  Goths,"  says  Mr.  Gibbon,  "  could  only  be  restrained  by 
the  firm  and  temperate  character  of  Theodosius,  the  public  safety  seemed  to  depend 
gn  the  life  and  abiUties  of  a  single  man."     Hist,  of  Decline,  Vol.  iv.  p.  443. 

1  t^ist.  of  Decline  and  fall,  Vol.  v.  p.  176—181, 


27o 

Italy  and  the  West.  Umler  the  guidance  of  Alaric,  it 
passed  over  Pannonia,  Istria,  and  Venetia ;  and  threat- 
ened the  destruction  of  imperial  Rome  herself.  At 
length  it  was  driven  out  of  Italy  by  StiHcho. 

Yet,  scarcely  was  this  part  of  the  ^^^w^^e^/ dissipated, 
when  another  dark  cloud  *  generated  like  its  fellow  in 
the  cold  regions  of  the  North,  (so  accurately  does  the 
symbol  correspond  with  its  antitype)  burst  in  the  year 
406  upon  the  banks  of  the  upper  Danube,  and  thence 
passed  on  into  Italy.  Headed  by  Radagaisus,  the  north- 
ern Germans  emigrated  from  their  native  land,  besieged 
Florence,  and  threatened  Rome.  Stilicho  however  was 
again  victorious  ;  but  the  remnant  of  the  vanquished  host 
was  still  sufficient  to  invade  and  desolate  the  province  of 
Gaul.  "  The  banks  of  the  Rhine  were  crowned,  like 
those  of  the  Tiber,  with  elegant  houses,  and  well  culti- 
vated farms.  This  scene  of  peace  and  plenty  was  sud- 
denly changed  into  a  desert ;  and  the  prospect  of  the 
smoking  ruins  could  alone  distinguish  the  solitude  of  na- 
ture from  the  desolations  of  man.  The  flourishing  city 
of  Mentz  was  surprised  and  destroyed;  and  many  thou- 
sand Christians  were  inhumanly  massacred  in  the  church. 
Worms  perished,  after  a  long  and  obstinate  siege  ;  Stras- 
burgh.  Spires,  Rheims,  Tournay,  Arras,  Amiens,  expe- 
rienced the  cruel  oppression  of  the  German  yoke  ;  and 
the  consuming  flames  of  war  spread  from  the  banks  of  the 
Rhine  over  the  greatest  part  of  the  seventeen  provinces 
of  Gaul.  That  rich  and  extensive  country,  as  far  as  the 
ocean,  the  Alps,  and  the  Pyrenees,  was  delivered  to  the 
barbarians  ;  who  drove  before  them,  in  a  promiscuous 
croud,  the  bishop,  the  senator,  and  the  virgin,  laden  with 
the  spoils  of  their  houses  and  altars."-|" 

Meanwhile  that  part  of  the  storm^  which  was  directed 
by  A  laric,  soon  began  to  beat  afresh.     After  the  death 

*  I  have  adopted  the  lanarnage  of  the  historian.  Unconscious  that  he  was  bear- 
ing his  testimony  to  the  truth  of  prophecy,  he  has  used  the  self-same  allegorical 
language  as  tliat  employed  by  St.  John.  "  The  correspondence  of  nations,"  says 
he,  "  was  in  that  age  so  imperfect  and  precarious,  that  the  revolutions  of  the  North 
might  escape  the  knowledge  of  the  court  of  Ravenna ;  till  the  dark  cloud,  which  was 
collected  along  the  coast  of  the  Baltic,  burst  in  thunder  upon  t!ie,  banks  of  the 
uPper  Danube."     Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol  v.  p.  214. 

+  Hist,  of  Decline,  Vol.  v.  p.  25?S, 


976 

of  Stilicho,  the  Gothic  sovereign  again  invaded  Italy  ; 
and  Rome  herself,  after  three  successive  sieges,  was  rack- 
ed by  the  northern  barbarians.* 

It  is  observable  in  literal  storms  of  haiU  that  their  vio- 
lence appears  for  a  season  to  subside,  and  afterwards  to 
return  with  redoubled  fury.  This  was  exactly  the  ^'ase 
with  the figurat'rce  tempest  of  Gothic  invasion  predi<ted 
in  the  Apocalypse.  After  the  exploits  of  Alaric  and 
Radagaisus  had  been  achieved,  the  violence  of  the  main 
body  of  the  hail-storm  abated,  but  its  outskirts  still  con- 
tinued to  beat  upon  the  more  remote  provinces  of  the 
Western  empire.  In  the  year  409,  Spain  was  overrun 
and  ravaged  by  the  Suevi,  the  Vandals,  and  the  Alans  ; 
who  were  afterwards,  in  their  turn,  compelled  to  submit 
to  the  arms  of  the  Goths. j"  The  Vandals  however  still 
prevailed  in  Galiicia  ;  and,  in  order  (as  it  were)  that  no 
part  of  the  Roman  a?or/</ should  escape  the  devastating  in- 
fluence of  the  northern  hail-storm^  soon  afterwards  in- 
vaded the  African  province.  In  the  year  429,  they  cross- 
ed the  Streights  of  Gibraltar  under  the  command  of 
Genseric,  invited  by  the  mistaken  policy  of  Boniface. 
At  that  period  the  African  coast  was  extremely  populous, 
and  the  country  itself  so  fruitful  that  it  deserved  the 
name  of  the  common  granary  of  Rome  and  of  mankind. 
"  On  a  sudden,  the  seven  provinces,  from  Tangier  to 
Tripoli,  were  overwhelmed  by  the  invasion  of  the  A^an- 
dais.  War,  in  its  fairest  form,  implies  a  perpetual  viola- 
tion of  humanity  and  justice  ;  and  the  hostilities  of 
barbarians  are  inflamed  by  the  fierce  and  lawless  spirit 
which  incessantly  disturbs  their  peaceful  and  domestic 
society.  The  Vandals,  where  they  found  resistance,  sel- 
dom gave  quarter  ;  and  the  deaths  of  their  valiant 
countrymen  were  expiated  by  the  ruin  of  the  cities  un- 
der whose  walls  they  had  fallen.  Careless  of  the  dis- 
tinctions of  age,  or  sex,  or  rank,  they  employed  every 
species  of  indignity  and  torture,  to  force  from  the  cap- 
tives a  discovery  of  their  hidden  wealth.  The  stern  pol- 
icy of  Genseric  justified  his  frequent  examples  of  mili- 
tary execution  :    he  was   not  always  the   master  of  his 

■r  Hi:-t.of  Decline,  Vol,  V.  p.  184 — S^P.  f  Ibid.  p.  350— 355. 


277 

own  passions,  or  of  those  of  his  followers  ;  and  the  ca- 
lamities of  war  were  aggravated  by  the  licentiousness  of 
the  Moors,  and  the  fanaticism  of  the  Donatists."* 

Thus  did  the  Jirst  great  storm  of  hail  lay  waste  the 
Roman  empire.  Collecting  itself  in  the  North,  it  burst 
over  Greece  and  Italy  ;  ravaged  Gaul  and  Spain  ;  and 
at  length  spent  itself  in  Africa. 

Scarcely  was  the  fury  oi  this  tempest  exhausted,  when 
another  no  less  destructive  began  to  gather,  as  we  per- 
petually behold  one  storm  of  hail  rapidly  succeed  an- 
other. The  Hungarian  monarch  Attila,  having  united  in 
his  own  person  the  empire  of  Scythia  and  Germany, 
soon  turned  bis  arms  against  the  declining  power  of  the 
Romans.  In  the  tjear  441,  he  invaded  the  Eastern  em- 
pire. "  The  illyrian  frontier  was  covered  by  a  line  of 
castles  and  fortresses  ;  and,  though  the  greatest  part  of 
them  consisted  only  of  a  single  tower  with  a  small  gar- 
rison, they  were  commonly  sufficient  to  repel  or  to  inter- 
cept the  inroads  of  any  enemy,  who  was  ignorant  of  the 
art,  and  impatient  of  the  delay,  of  a  regular  siege.  But 
these  slight  obstacles  were  instantly  swept  away  by  the 
inundation  of  the  Huns.  They  destroyed  with  fire  and 
sword  the  populous  cities  of  Sirmium  and  Singidunum, 
of  Ratiara,  and  Marcianopolis,  of  Naissus  and  Sardica  ; 
where  every  circumstance,  in  the  discipline  of  the  peo- 
ple and  the  construction  of  the  buildings,  had  been 
gradually  adapted  to  the  sole  purpose  of  defence.  The 
whole  breadth  of  Europe,  as  it  extends  above  five  hun- 
dred miles  from  the  Euxine  to  the  Hadriatic,  wasat  once 
invaded,  and  occupied,  and  desolated,  by  the  myriads  of 
barbarians  whom  Attila  led  into  the  field — The  armies 
of  the  Eastern  empire  were  vanquished  in  three  succes- 
sive engagements  ;  and  the  progress  of  Attila  may  be 
traced  by  the  fields  of  battle — From  the  Hellespont  to 
Thermopylae  and  the  suburbs  of  Constantinople  he  rav- 
aged, without  resistance  and  without  mercy,  the  provin- 
ces of  Thrace  and  Macedonia.  Heraclea  and  Hadria- 
nople  might  perhaps  escape  this  dreadful  irruption  of  the 
Huns  ;  but  words,  the  most  expressive  of  total  extirpa- 

*  Hist,  of  Decline,  Vol.  vi.  p.  12—22. 


278 

tlon  and  erasure,  are  applied  to  the  calamities  which  they 
inflicted  on  seventy  cities  of  the  Eastern  empire."* 

A  pause  at  length  took  place  in  the  storm.  In  the 
year  446,  the  Constantinopolitan  emperor  concluded  an 
ignominious  peace  with  Attila  :  but,  in  the  year  A^ 50^ 
the  restless  Hun  threatened  alike  both  the  East  and  the 
"West.  "Mankind,"  says  the  historian,  "awaited  his 
decision  with  awful  suspence."  The  storm  however 
now  burst  over  Gaul  and  Italy.  After  ravaging  the  for- 
mer of  these  countries  with  savage  barbarity,  Attila  turn- 
ed his  arms  toward  the  seat  oithe  Western  empire.  Aqui- 
leia  made  a  vigorous  but  ineffectual  resistance  ;  and  the 
succeeding  generation  could  scarcely  discover  its  ruins. 
The  victorious  barbarian  "  pursued  his  march  ;  and,  as 
he  passed,  the  cities  of  Altinum,  Concordia,  and  Padua, 
were  reduced  into  heaps  of  stones  and  ashes.  The  inland 
towns,  Vicenza,  Verona,  and  Bergamo,  were  exposed 
to  the  rapacious  cruelty  of  the  Huns  ;"  the  rich  plains 
of  modern  Lombardy  were  laid  waste  ;  and  the  feroci- 
ous Attila  boasted,  that  "  the  grass  never  grew  on  the 
spot  where  his  horse  had  trod."  Rome  herself  escap- 
ed :  and,  by  the  sudden  death  of  Attila,  his  empire  fell 
asunder,  and  the  great  northern  storm  of  hail  was  dissi- 
pated. •]' 

"  And  the  second  angel  sounded  :  and  as  it  were  a 
great  mountain  burning  with  fire  was  cast  into  the  sea  : 
and  the  third  part  of  the  sea  became  blood  ;  and  the 
third  part  of  the  creatures,  which  were  in  the  sea  and 
had  life,  died  ;  and  the  third  part  of  the  ships  were  de- 
stroyed." 

The  death  of  Attila  took  place  in  the  year  453  ;  and, 
with  that  event,  the  invasions  of  the  Roman  empire  from 
the  Norths  ^P'^ly  symbolized  by  a  storm  of  hail.,  were 
brought  to  a  termination.  The  blast  of  the  second  trum- 
pet introduces  a  new  calamity  from  a  directly  opposite 
quarter  of  the  world.  What  proceeds  therefore  from  the 
South  cannot  with  any  propriety  be  represented  by  liail. 
Accordingly  Ave  find,  that  the  contrary  emblem  o^fre 
is  used  to  describe  it.     A   burning  blast  causes  a  great 

*  Hist,  of  Decline,  Vol.  vi.  p.  45— .'J3*  f  Ibid.  p.  87—1 35. 


'279 

mourdain  to  burst  forth  into  a  blaze  ;  and  afterwards, 
heaving  it  from  its  base,  casts  it  flaming  into  the  midst 
of  the  sea.  This  imagery  is  manifestly  copied  from  a  pa- 
rallel passage  of  Jeremiah,  which  will  afford  us  the  best 
explanation  of  what  is  intended  by  St.  John.  Address- 
ing himself  to  Babylon,  the  Lord  solemnly  declares, 
"  Behold,  I  am  against  thee,  O  destroying  mountain, 
which  destroyest  all  the  earth  :  and  I  will  stretch  out 
mine  hand  upon  thee,  and  roll  thee  down  from  the  rocks, 
and  will  make  thee  a  burnt  mountain."*  It  appears 
then,  that  the  destruction  of  Babijlon  is  symbolized  by 
the  tearing  up  of  a  large  mount aui  from  its  base,  and  by 
setting  it  onjire.  Now  it  is  well  known,  that  Babijlou 
is  the  constant  apocalyptic  type  of  Rome.  Hence,  in  a 
prophecy  like  that  otitlie  trumpets  which  treats  of  the  fall 
of  the  Roman  empire,  the  symbol  of  «  mountain,  circum- 
stanced precisely  similar  to  the  Babylonian  mountain, 
cannot  with  propriety  be  interpreted  as  relative  to  any 
power  excepting  that  of  Rome  alone.  In  the  year  455, 
Genseric  king  of  the  Vandals  sailed  from  Africa,  and 
suddenly  landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber.  Rome,  once 
the  mistress  of  the  world,  was  now  unable  to  resist  the 
arms  of  a  barbaric  chieftain.  During  fourteen  days  and 
nights  it  was  given  up  to  the  licentiousness  of  the  Van- 
dals and  the  Moors  ;  and  was  plundered  of  all  that  yet 
remained  to  it  from  former  conquerors  of  public  or  pri- 
vate wealth,  of  sacred  or  profane  treasure.  Having  thus 
at  once  satiated  his  rapacity  and  cruelty,  Genseric  set 
sail  again  for  Africa,  carrying  with  him  immense  riches 
and  an  innumerable  multitude  of  captives,  among  whom 
were  the  empress  Eudoxia,  and  her  two  daughters.  By 
former  ravages  the  power  of  Rome  had  been  greatly 
weakened,  but  by  Genseric  it  was  so  completely  brokenf 
that  in  a  little  time  it  was  utterly  subverted.  Hurled 
from  its  base,  and  plunged  like  a  huge  blazing  mountain 
into  a  sea  of  wars  and  tumults,.  "  it  struggled  hard,  and 
gasped  as  it  were  for  breath,  through  eight  short  and  tur^ 

*  Jerem.  li.  25. 
f  So  completely  was  it  broken  at  this  period,  that  many,  among  whom  are  Mi% 
Mede,  have  dated  the  fall  ofths  IVtstera  (mfire  from  the  year  455  Or  456. 


280 

bulent  reigns,  for  the  space  of  twenty  years,  and  at  length 
expired  under  Augustulus."* 

"  And  the  third  angel  sounded  :  and  there  fell  a  great 
star  from  heaven,  burning  as  it  were  a  lamp;  and  it  fell 
upon  the  third  part  of  the  rivers,  and  upon  the  fountains 
of  waters  :  and  the  name  of  the  star  is  called  Wormwood  ; 
and  many  men  died  of  the  waters  because  they  were 
made  bitter." 

We  have  seen,  that  the  language  used  by  St.  John  in 
describing  the  effects  of  the  for^mer  trumpet  is  borrowed 
from  a  passage  of  Jeremiah  wherein  the  fall  of  Babylon, 
the  apocalyptic  type  of  Kome,  is  predicted  :  this,  which 
is  here  employed  by  him,  is  taken  in  a  similar  manner 
from  Isaiah.  "  Thou  shalt  take  "up  this  proverb  against 
the  king  of  Babylon,  and  say.  How  hath  the  oppressor 
ceased,  the  golden  city  ceased  !  The  Lord  hath  broken 
the  staff  of  the  wicked,  and  the  sceptre  of  the  rulers — 
How  art  thou  fallen  from  heaven,  O  day-star,  son  of  the 
morning  !  how  art  thou  cut  down  to  the  ground,  which 
didst  weaken  the  nations."*]*  Arguing  then  both  from 
analogy  of  interpretation,  and  from  the  general  tenor  of 
the  present  prophecy,  \ithe  mountain  of  the  second  trum- 
pet mean  Rome^  the  star  oithe  third  trumpet  must  mean 
the  prince  of  Rome  ;  precisely  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  mountain  spoken  of  by  Jeremiah  means  Bubijlun^  and 
the  star  described  by  Isaiah  as  falling  to  the  ground 
means  the  prince  of  Baby  Ion.  In  the  language  of  sym- 
bols indeed  the  shooting  of  a  star  from  heaven  to  earth 
signifies  either  the  doionfall  of  a  king.,  or  the  apostacy  of 
a  minister  of  religion ;  but  in  the  present  instance  we 
cannot  hesitate  to  adopt  the  secular  interpretation.  St. 
John  is  describing  the  calamities  of  the  Roman  empire 
in  general,  and  the  downfall  of  the  Western  empire  in 
particular  :  hence  it  is  more  congruous  to  explain  the 
symbol  of  the  falling  star  secularly  than  spiritually. 
And  this  opinion  is  decidedly  confirmed  by  the  testimo- 

*  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  Rev.  viii.  Mr.  Lowinan  supposes  like  myself,  that 
the  symbol  of  casting  a  mountain  into  the  sea,  here  used  by  the  prophet,  denotes  tl>c 
subversion  of  a  kingdom  by  hostile  invasion.  "  Great  disorders  and  commotions,  especially 
•when  kingdoms  are  moved  by  hostile  invasions,  are  expressed  in  the  prophetic  Style  by 
carrying  or  cutting  mountains  into  the  midst  of  the  sea^^  Paraph,  in  loc. 
f  Isaiah  xiv.  4,  5,  1 2. 


281 

ny  of  history.  At  the  era  of  the  third  trumpet^  that  is 
to  say  at  the  era  posterior  to  the  hail-storm  uf  northern 
invasion  and  the  Jiertj  blast  of  southern  devastation,  we 
find  that  a  great  temporal  star  immediately  connected 
with  the  blazing  mountain  did  actually  fail  from  heaven  to 
earth  ;  but  we  shall  in  vain,  at  the  same  period,  look  for 
the  apostacy  of  some  remarkable  spiritual  star.*  On 
these  grounds,  I  doubt  not  that  the  falling  star  oi  the 
third  trumpet  is  the  line  of  the  Western  Cesar s,  which 
was  finally  hurled  from  the  political  heaven  in  the  year 
476. 1"  The  last  emperor  Momyllus  or  Augusiulus  was 
deposed  by  Odoacer  king  of  the  Heruli,  who  put  an  end 
to  the  very  name  of  the  Western  empire^  and  caused 
himself  to  be  proclaimed  king  of  ltali).\ 

St.  John  intimates,  \.\\2X  the  full  of  this  star  should 
eventually  be  productive  of  much  bloodshed  among  the 
rivers  ?in&fountai)is  or  the  settled  Gothic  governments  of 
the  West,  which  now  filled  the  place  formerly  occupied 
by  the  Roman  empire  ;  and  thence  styles  it  Wormwoody 
as  indicative  of  the  bitter  discords  which  its  downfall 
should  occasion.  As  the  union  of  the  nations  of  the 
West  under  one  head  would  naturally  be  the  cause  of 
peace  among  them,  so  their  disunion  under  many  heads 
would  as  naturally  be  the  cause  of  war.  Thus  we  find, 
that  Odoacer  after  a  short  reign  of  sixteen  years  was  at- 
tacked and  slain  by  Theodoric  king  of  the  Ostrogoths  ; 
that  the  Ostrogothic  monarchy  was  in  its  turn  subverted 
by  the  lieutenants  of  the  Eastern  Emperor ;  and  that  It- 
aly was  afterwards  alternately  a  prey  to  the  Lombards 
and  the  Franks.     If  from   Italy   we  cast  our  eyes  over 

*  The  fallen  star  of  the  third  trumpet  cannot  be  Artus,  because  he  died  before  even 
the  frst  trumpet  began  to  sound.  His  opinions  were  started  about  the  year  318,  and 
continued  to  agitate  the  East  till  about  the  year  381.  The  bail-storm  of  the  Jirst  trum' 
pet  had  long  been  collecting  ;  but  it  did  not  burst  till  the  year  395. 

f  Mr.  Lowman  most  justly  observes  respecting  this  symbol,  that  "  the  most 
natural  interpretation  of  it  seems  to  be  this  :  that,  as  the  risi/!g  of  a  star  denotes  the 
rise  of  some  neiu  power  or  authority,  so  the  fall  of  a  star  from  heaven  signifies  the  fall  of 
some  kingdom  or  empire"  (Paraph,  in  loc.)  He  would  have  expressed  himself  how- 
ever with  more  accuracy,  had  he  said  the  fall  of  some  ting  or  emperor. 

\  Mr.  Mede  applies  the  shooting  of  this  star  to  the  downfall  of  the  U^estern  Cesars  ; 
and  thence  takes  occasion  to  style  it  Hesperus,  or  the  evening  star  of  the  West.  I  per- 
fectly agree  with  him  in  his  interpretation  of  the  symbol ;  but  think  it  right  to 
observe,  that  he  has  no  warrant  for  denominating  the  star  Hesperus.  In  the  Apoc- 
alypse it  is  simply  called  a  great  star. 

VOL.    I.  36 


282 

Gaul,  we  shall  behold  the  same  spectacle  of  war  and 
discord  in  the  contests  of  Clovis  with  the  Alemanni,  the 
Burgundians,  and  the  Visigoths  :  while  the  period  of  the 
fallen  star  was  marked  in  Britain  by  the  establishment 
of  the  Saxon  Heptarchy,*  and  the  subsequent  never 
ceasing  wars  between  the  princes  of  the  Saxon  blood,  j* 

"And  the  fourth  angel  sounded  :  and  the  third  part 
of  the  sun  was  smitten,  and  the  third  part  of  the  moon, 
and  the  third  part  of  the  stars  ;  so  as  the  third  part  of 
them  was  darkened,  and  the  day  shone  not  for  a  third 
part  of  it,  and  the  night  likewise." 

This  trumpet  describes,  under  the  ?,yxnho\o{  an  eclipse 
of  the  third  or  Roman  part  oj  the  political  luminaries  of 
the  worUU  the  effects  produced  upon  the  empire^  consid- 
ered as  one  great  i<shole^  by  the  sounding  of  the  three 
first  trumpets.  When  all  the  provinces  of  the  West  were 
occupied  by  the  northern  invaders,  when  Rome  herself 
became  a  mere  appendage 'to  a  Gothic  kingdom,  and 
when  the  line  of  the  Italian  Cesars  had  ended  in  the  per- 
son of  Augustulus  ;  then  commenced  the  great  eclipse 
of  the  fourth  trumpet.  The  Roman  sun.,  shorn  of  his  rays, 
no  longer  emitted  his  pristine  splendor  ;  the  figurative 
mooti.,  or  the  hodij  of  the  people  subject  to  his  infiuence^ 
shone,  by  the  defalcation  of  the  western  provinces,  with 
scarcely  more  than  half  her  wonted  lustre  ;  and  the  figu- 
rative stars.,  or  the  governors  of  provinces,  experienced  a 
proportionate  diminution.  "  The  day  shone  not  for  a 
third  part  of  it,  and  the  night  likewise."     While  "  the 

*  Or,  according  to  Mr.  Turner,  Octarchy.  See  his  Hist,  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  B, 
ii.  C.  6. 

•f-  The  state  of  the  Roman  ivorld,  when  its  symbolical  rivers  znA  fountains  began  to  be 
tinged  with  ivormzvood  by  the  downfall  of  the  JVestern  empire,  is  thus  described  by 
Mr.  Gibbon.  "  I  have  now  accomplished  the  laborious  narrative  of  the  decline  and 
fall  of  the  Roman  empire,  from  the  fortunate  age  of  Trajan  and  the  Antonines,  to 
its  total  extinction  in  the  West,  about  five  centuries  after  the  Christian  era.  At  that 
unhappy  period,  the  Saxons  fiercely  struggled  with  the  natives  for  the  possession  of 
Britain  ;  Gaul  and  Spain  were  divided  between  the  powerful  monarchies  of  the 
Franks  and  the  Visigoths,  and  the  dependent  kingdoms  of  the  Suevi  and  Burgun- 
dians ;  Africa  was  exposed  to  the  cruel  persecution  of  the  Vandals,  and  the  savage 
insults  of  the  Moors  ;  Rome  and  Italy,  as  far  as  the  banks  of  the  Danube,  were  af- 
flicted by  an  army  of  barbarian  mercenaries,  whose  lawless  tyranny  was  succeeded 
by  the  reign  of  Theodoric  the  Ostrogoth.  All  the  subjects  of  the  empire,  who,  by 
the  use  of  the  Latin  language,  more  particularly  deserved  the  name  and  privileges 
of  Romans,  were  oppressed  by  the  disgrace  and  calamities  of  foreign  conquest  ;  and 
the  victorious  nations  of  Germany  established  a  new  system  of  manners  and  govern- 
•meut  in  the  western  countries  of  Europe."     Hist,  of  Decline,  Vol.  vi.  p.  404. 


283 

victorious  nations  of  Germany  established  a  new  system 
of  manners  and  government  in  the  western  countries  of 
Europe,  the  majesty  of  Rome  was  faintly  represented  by 
the  princes  of  Constantinople,  the  feeble  and  imaginary 
successors  of  Augustus,  Yet  they  continued  to  reign 
over  the  East,  from  the  Danube  to  the  Nile  and  Tigris  ; 
the  Gothic  and  A'andal  kingdoms  of  Italy  and  Africa 
were  subverted  by  the  arms  of  Justinian  ;"*  nor  did  the 
long  hne  of  the  Cesars  become  finally  extinct,  till  Con- 
stantinople fell  a  prey  to  the  martial  fanaticism  of  the 
Turks. 

Thus  was  he  that  Ipffed  removed  out  of  the  way,  and 
thus  was  an  opening  prepared  for  the  man  of  sin  and  the 
Tsoestern  Apostacij.  Constantine  quitted  the  ancient  cap- 
ital for  the  city  of  which  he  claimed  to  be  the  founder  ; 
Honorius,  the  first  of  the  divided  Italian  Cesars,  fixed  his 
residence  at  Ravenna  ;  and  at  length  the  Western  empire 
was  completely  overthrown  in  the  person  of  Augustulus. 
Nothing  now  impeded  the  growth  oi  the  little  horn,  ex- 
cept tlie  three  Gothic  Idngdoins  which  were  destined  to 
be  plucked  up  by  the  roots  before  it.  During  their  erad- 
ication it  gradually  increased  ;  and,  before  it  had  attain- 
ed the  summit  of  its  temporal  power,  the  saints  were  de- 
livered into  its  hand,  and  it  became  a  mighty  spiritual 
persecuting  empire.  Then  was  the  man  of  sin  revealed, 
that  son  of  perdition^  whose  tyrannical  reign  and  final  de- 
struction is  described  at  large  under  the  three  last  trum- 
pets. 

As  I  have  materially  varied  from  Bp.  Newton  in  the 
preceding  interpretation  oi  the  first  four  trumpets^  it  is  a 
mark  of  respect  only  due  to  so  excellent  a  commentator 
to  state  the  grounds  of  my  differing  from  him.  Accord- 
ing to  his  Lordship's  exposition,  "  at  the  sounding  of  the 
first  trumpet^  Alaric  and  his  Goths  invade  the  Roman 
empire,  twice  besiege  Rome,  and  set  fire  to  it  in  several 
places.  At  the  sounding  of  the  second  trumpet.,  Attila 
and  his  Huns  waste  the  Roman  provinces,  and  compel 
the  Eastern  emperor  Theodosius  the  second,  and  the 
Western  emperor  Yalentinian  the  third,  to  submit  to 
shameful  terms.     At  the  sounding  of  the  third  tricmpct, 

"  Hht.  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  vi.  p.  424. 


284 

Genseric  and  his  Vandals  arrive  from  Africa,  spoil  and 
plunder  Ronie,  and  set  sail  again  with  immense  wealth 
and  innumerable  captives.  At  the  sounding  o{  the  fourth 
trumpet^  Odoacer  and  the  Heruli  put  an  end  to  the  very 
name  o^ the  Westei^n  empire."* 

All  the  subsequent  errors  of  this  interpretation  may- 
be traced  up  to  an  erroneous  curtailment  of  the  effects 
produced  by  the  first  trumpet.  The  northern  hailstorm^ 
according  to  the  most  natural  explanation  which  can  be 
given  of  it,  must  mean  all  the  invasions  of  the  Rommi 
empire  by  way  of  Germany,  Scythia,  and  the  North  ; 
whether  conducted  by  Alaric,  Radagaisus,  or  Attila  ; 
whether  executed  by  the  Goths,  the  Vandals,  the  Suevi, 
the  Alans,  or  the  Huns.  If  once  we  attempt  to  separate 
these  kindred  expeditions  from  each  other,  we  shall  be 
obliged  to  divide  them,  not  merely  between  two  trumpets 
(as  Bp.  Newton  has  done,)  but  among  all  the  seven. 
Proceeding  as  they  universally  did  from  the  same  quar- 
ter of  the  world, j"  the  region  of  literal  hail.,  they  must 
jointly  be  considered  as  constituting  only  so  many  differ- 
ent showers  of  one  great  sijmbolical  hail-storm.  1  conceive 
Bp.  Newton  then  to  be  perfectly  right,  in  supposing  that 
the  first  trumpet  relates  to  Alaric  and  his  Goths  ;  but 
perfectly  wrong  in  placing  Attila  and  his  Huns  under  the 
second  trumpet.,  instead  of  under  the  first.  Such  an  ar- 
rangement, in  fact,  proves  itself  to  be  erroneous  ;  for  it 
has  led  the  Bishop  to  a  complete  violation  of  the  princi- 
ples of  symbolical  language  in  his  remarks  both  upon  the 
second.,  the  third.,  and  the  fourth  trumpet.  He  interprets 
for  instance  the  burning  mountain  to  mean  Attila  ;  the 
falling  star,  to  mean  Genseric  ;  and  the  eclipse  of  the 
sun.  moon.,  and  stars,  to  mean  the  extinction  of  the  impe- 
rial dignity  in  the  person  of  Augustulus,  and  the  eclipse 
of  the  senate  and  consuls  under  the  government  of  the 
Gothic  sovereigns  of  Italy.  The  symbol  however  of  a 
mountain  set  on  fire,  torn  violent  lij  from  its  base,  and  hurl- 

*  Table  of  contents  to  Dissert,  xxiv. 

■|-  The  Huns  originally  migrated  from  the  borders  of  China.  The  Gothic  tribes 
were  likewise  of  Asiatic  extraction.  But  they  all  equally  invaded  the  Roman  empire 
from  the  northern  regions  of  Scythia,  Mesia,  and  Germany.  Hence  I  conceive 
them  all  to  be  alike  intended  by  the  bail-itorm  of  thefnt  trumpet. 


285 

ed  into  the  sea^  must  surely  mean,  agreeably  to  the  par- 
allel passage  in  Jeremiah,*  not  a  victorious  prince,  but 
a  subverted  empire.  So  again  :  the  symbol  of  a  fallen 
^Avr  denotes  either  a  king  hurled  fr/m  the  summit  of  his 
poiver,  ox  an  apostate  pastor  :  hence  it  is  plainly  impossi- 
ble, that  the  fallen  star  of  the  third  trumpet  should  be 
Geuseric ;  for  he  was  not  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  and  he 
was  a  triumphant  instead  of  being  a  vanquished  sovereign. 
Lastly  an  eclipse  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  cannot  be 
fairly  interpreted  to  mean  an  extinction  of  the  sun,  and 
only  an  eclipse  of  the  other  luminaries  :  yet  does  the 
scheme  of  Bp.  Newtun,  by  leading  him  to  view  the  West- 
em  Empire  as  something  altogether  distinct  from  the 
Eastern  Empire,  instead  of  considering  the  fourth  trum- 
pet as  affecting  the  whole  Empire  in  general  by  producing 
the  downfall  oi  its  Western  half,  constrain  him  to  adopt 
this  incongruous  explanation  of  its  imagery. f 

On  these  grounds,  I  have  ventured  to  bring  forward  a 
different  interpretation,  which  at  once  harmonizes  with 
the  symbolical  language  of  prophecy,  and  which  shews 
how  a  way  was  prepared  for  the  deveiopement  of  the 
great  Apostacy. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

Of  the  three  last  apocalyptic  trumpets,  or,  as  they  are 
peculiarly  styled,  the  three  z<Doe-trumpets. 

HE  that  letted  being  now  removed,  the  prophet 
commences  the  history  of  the  great  Apostacy  which  he 
details  under  the  three  last  trumpets,  usually  denominat- 
ed the  three  woe-trumpets.  He  begins  with  an  account 
of  the  Eastern  branch  of  the  Apostacij  under  the  two 

*  Jerem.  li.  25. 
f  Whatever  objections  are  here  made  to  the  scheme  of  Bp.  Newton  apply  with 
equal  force  to  that  of  Mr.  Whitaker,  who  has  throughout  followed  the  Bishop,  en- 
larging only  very  considerably  upon  the  brief  remarks  of  his  predecessor.     1  am  in- 
•Jebted  to  him  for  some  useful  hints  ia  the  elucidation  of  the  liail-sterm  of  the  North. 


286 

Jirst  zvoe-trumpets.  He  next  proceeds  to  the  parallel  his- 
tory of  the  Western  branch  of  the  Apostacij,  which  he 
gives  at  large  under  the  tico  jirst  zvoe-trumpets,  and  more 
briefly  under  the  the  third  :  and,  in  order  that  his  nar- 
rative may  be  unbroken,  and  that  all  confusion  may  be 
prevented,  he  throws  the  whole  history  of  the  ivestern 
Apostacij,  under  all  the  three  trumpets, -diwA  during  the 
entire  period  of  1260  years,  into  a  little  book,  or  codicil 
to  the  larger  book  of  the  Apocalyse.  And  he  finally  de- 
tails at  large  the  operation  of  the  last  woe-trumpet,  which 
contains  within  itself  the  seven  vials,  both  in  the  East 
and  in  ///e  West. 

Concerning  the  three  zvoe-trumpets  themselves  it  may 
briefly  be  observed  in  general  :  that  the  first  describes 
the  rise  of  the  mo-fold  Apostacif  ;  the  second  represents 
it  in  the  zenith  of  its  power,  till  the  primary  and  only 
partial  manifestation  of  Antichrist  ;*  and  the  third  ex\\\- 
bits  its  downfall,  displaying  at  the  same  time  the  multi- 
plied horrors  of  the  harvest  and  vintage  of  the  Lord,  or 
the  uncontrolled  reign  of  the  atheistical  king  and  his  sub- 
sequent destruction  along  with  all  the  other  enemies  of 
God,  and  at  length  conducting  us  to  that  happy  period 
when  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  shall  become  the 
kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ. 

•  The  French  revolution  in  the  year  1789.  It  professed  to  establish  a  limited  mo 
Barchy,  respecting  at  once  the  prerogatives  of  a  lawful  prince,  and  the  hberties  of 
the  people.  This  only  partial  revelation  of  Antichrist  deceived  numbers,  and  led 
them  to  form  the  romantic  idea,  that  France  was  become  (to  use  the  detestable  cant 
of  the  day)  a  regenerated  kingdom.  Four  years  however  were  not  suffered  to  elapse 
from  the  commencement  of  the  revolution,  ere  the  streets  of  Paris  and  the  provin- 
cial tO'vvns  streamed  with  the  blood  of  innumerable  victims,  ere  the  sovereign  him- 
self was  brought  to  the  scaffold,  ere  religion  was  abolished  and  a  sort  of  jumble 
of  atheism  and  idolatry  ^vas  established  in  its  stead.  In  the  first  year  of  Gallic  liberty, 
Antichrist  was  partially  revealed  :  in  the  fourth  year  of  liberty,  and  the  frst  year  of  equali- 
ty (Aug.  12,  1792,)  he  threw  offhis  mask  of  toleration,  candor,  and  universal  philan- 
thropy ;  and  stood  openly  revealed  in  all  his  native  deformity.  His  lamb-like  pre- 
tensions to  reason,  moderation,  and  humanity,  vinished  as  the  fleeting  clouds  of  the 
morning  :  and  the  astonished  world  suddenly  beheld  the  existence  of  an  "  execrable 
power,  which  alone  has  steeled  the  hearts  of  its  votaries  against  every  feeling  of  na- 
ture :  has  dared  to  sanction  treason,  parricide,  lust,  and  massacre  ;  aud  to  infuse  into 
the  breasts  of  its  subject  multitudes  a  new  passion,  which  has  sunk  them  beneath  the 
level  of  the  brute  creation  :  a  passion  for  the  sight  of  their  fellow-creatures  in  the 
agonies  of  death,  and  a  literal  thirst  for  human  blood."  Hist,  the  Inter.  Vol.  ii.  p. 
'215,216. 


287 


CHAPTER      IX. 


Concerning  the  effects  of  the  two  jirst  woe-trumpets  in 

the  east. 

THE  effects  of  the  two  Jirst  woe-trumpets  in  th& 
East  have  been  so  fully  and  satisfactorily  discussed  by 
the  excellent  Bp.  Newton,  that  1  shall  do  nothing  more 
than  abridge  his  remarks,  with  the  exception  of  noticing 
a  single  error  into  which  I  conceive  his  Lordship  to  have 
fallen. 

x\t  the  sounding  of  the  fifth  trumpet^  (the  first  of  the 
three  zcoe-trttmpets J  a  star  \\h\ch  had  fallen*  from  heaven 
to  earth ^openedihe  bottomless  pit  and  letout  a  vastsvvarm 
of  locusts  with  their  leader  Apolhjon  at  their  head.  The 
commission  of  these  locusts  was,  not  to  hurt  the  grass  of 
the  earth,  nor  any  green  thing,  nor  any  tree  ;  but  only 
those  men,  who  had  not  the  seal  of  God  in  their  fore- 
heads ;  and,  in  point  of  time  it  was  limited  io  five  pro- 
phetic months^  or  laO  natural  years.  As  for  the  locusts 
themselves,  they  were  like  horses  prepared  unto  bat- 
tle ;  their  crowns  were  of  gold  ;  their  faces  were  as  the 
faces  of  men  ;  they  had  hair  as  the  hair  of  women  ; 
their  teeth  were  as  the  teeth  of  lions  ;  their  breastplates 
were  like  breastplates  of  iron  ;  they  had  the  tails  of 
scorpions,  armed  with  deadly  stings  ;  and  the  sound  of 
their  wings  was  as  the  sound  of  chariots  of  many  horses 
running  to  battle. f 

Bp.  Newton  supposes  the  fallen  star  to  be  the  impostor 
Mohammed  ;  and  yet  afterwards  represents  the  locust 
sovereign  Apollyon  as  being  Mohammed  likewise.  To 
say  nothing  of  so  plain  a  repetition,  the  prophet  evident- 
ly describes  the  star  and  the  king  as  being  two  entirely 
different  persons.  The  fallen  star  opens  the  door  of  the 
bottomless  pit,  and  lets  out  Apollyon  with  his  locusts  : 
consequently  Apollyon  was  confined  in  the  pit,  till  he 
was  let  out  by  the  star  :  therefore  Apollyon  and  the  star 

*  Such  ii  the  proper  translation  of  ^iTf1:iy.t1«,  as  Mr.  Whitaker  rightly  obseryes. 
Comment,  p.  116". 

t  Rev.ix.  1— II, 


28S 

cannot  both  be  Mohammed.  Moreover,  independent  ot 
this  circumstance,  the  Arabian  impostor  can  with  no 
more  propriety  be  symbolized  by  a  Jallen  star^  than  the 
Vandalic  monarch  Genseric.  Mohammed  never  was  a 
star  in  the  sense  of  a  Christian  pastor  ;  and,  when  he 
afterwards  became  a  sovereign^  so  far  from  failing  from 
his  high  estate,  he  was  uniformly  successful  in  all  his 
enterprises.  We  must  look  out  therefore  for  some  other 
character,  to  whom  the  hieroglyphic  of  a  fallen  star  is 
more  applicable. 

I  conceive  then,  that  the  fallen  star  of  the  first  woe- 
trumpet  is  no  other  than  the  apostate  Nesturian  monk 
Sergius  or  Buheira ;  who  assisted  Mohammed  in  the 
forging  of  his  imposture,  and  who  infused  into  it  all  the 
antitrinitarian  venom  of  his  own  sect.  The  Mussulmans 
assert,  that  he  first  noticed  their  prophet  while  yet  a  boy  : 
when  he  observed  a  luminous  cloud  around  his  head, 
which  preserved  him  from  the  too  intense  rays  of  the 
sun  ;  perceived  the  dry  trees,  upon  which  he  sat,  in- 
stantly to  put  forth  branches  clothed  with  verdant  foli- 
age, to  serve  him  for  a  shade  ;  and  discovered  the  seal  of 
prophecy,  impressed  between  his  shoulders.*  But,  ac- 
cording to  Dr.  Prideaux,  "  the  truth  of  the  matter  is, 
Mohammed  did  not  fall  acquainted  with  him  till  a  long 
while  after,  when  he  was  projecting  his  wicked  design  in 
his  head  ;  in  order  to  the  better  forming  of  which,  being 
very  desirous  to  acquaint  himself  with  the  Jewish  and 
Christian  religions,  he  was  very  inquisitive  in  examining 
into  them,  as  he  met  with  those  who  could  inform  him. 
And  in  one  of  his  journeys  into  Syria,  either  at  Bostra 
as  some  say,  or  at  Jerusalem  as  others,  lighting  on  this 
Baheira,  and  receiving  great  satisfaction  from  him  in 
many  of  those  points  which  he  desired  to  be  informed  in, 
he  did  thereon  contract  a  particular  friendship  with  him. 
And  therefore,  not  long  after,  the  monk,  for  some  great 
crime  being  excommunicated  and  expelled  his  monas- 
tery, fled  to  Mecca  to  him  ;  and,  being  there  entertained 
in  his  house,  became  his  assistant  in  the  framing  of  that 
imposture  which   he  afterwards  vented,  and  continued 

*  Modern  Univ.  Hist.  Vol.  i.  p.  26. 


289 

with  him  ever  after  :  till  at  length  the  impostor,  having 
110  further  occasion  for  him,  to  secure  the  secret,  put  him 
to  death."* 

In  the  year  606,  Mohammed  committed  the  first  overt 
act  of  his  imposture  by  retiring  to  the  cave  of  Hera  : 
consequently  then  it  was,  that  the  fallen  star  Sergius 
opened  the  door  of  the  bottomless  pit.  The  lucusts  how- 
ever and  their  leader  did  not  immediately  issue  forth,  or 
publicly  disclose  themselves  :  their  open  manifestation 
was  to  be  preceded  by  the  smoke  and  fumes  of  the  false 
religion  which  they  were  about  to  propagate.  Accord- 
ingly Mohammed  emerged  from  his  solitary  retreafj' 
about  the  year  609  ;  and  began  to  excite  that  smoke, 
which  soon  darkened  all  the  eastern  heaven.  "  Three 
years  he  silentUj  emploijed  in  the  conversion  of  fourteen 
proselytes,  the  first  fruits  of  his  mission.^  But,  in  the 
fourth  year ^^  or  the  year  612,  "  \\q  assumed  the  prophetic 
office.,  and  resolved  to  impart  to  his  family  the  light  of  di- 
vine truth. "§  In  this  year  6  {'2,  then,  Mohammed  and  his 
disciples.,  or  Apollyon  and  his  locusts,  may  be  considered 
as  issuing  from  the  bottomless  pit,  which  the  fallen  star 
Sergius  had  been  the  marhi  instrument  of  opening.  Con- 
sequently the  fve  prophetic  months,  during  which  the 
locusts  were  allowed  to  torment  mankind,  expired  in  the 
year  762  ;  when  the  caliph  Almansor  built  Bagdad  as 
the  future  seat  of  his  empire,  and  called  it  the  city  of 
peace.     At  this  period,  the  Saracens  ceased  from  their  lo- 

*  See  Prideaux's  Life  of  Mohammed,  p.  47. 

f  Mr.  Wliitaker's  conjecture,  that  the  bottomless  fit,  or  the  cave  of  the  abyss,  (which 
no  doubt  is  the  hteral  translation  of  the  original  expression)  alludes  to  the  ca-ve  of 
Hera,  (caves  being  often  considered  by  pagan  superstition  "  as  the  seats  of  oracles 
kind  sources  of  inspiration,")  has  the  merit  of  possessing  much  ingenuity  ;  but  1  am 
not  perfectly  satisfied  how  far  it  may  be  deemed  solid.  ///  the  first  place,  it  does  not 
appear  that  we  are  warranted  in  taking  symbolical  language  in  a  literal  sense,  unless  it 
be  avoivedly  descriptii<e  ;  as,  for  instance,  when  the  Euphratean  army  is  said  to  con- 
sist of  horsemen,  and  to  seem  as  if  -uomiting  fre,  and  brimstone,  and  smoke :  and,  in  the 
second  place,  Mohammed  literally  issued  from  the  cave  of  Hera  about  the  year  609, 
which  will  not  agree  with  that  part  of  the  prophecy,  which  speaks  of  the  locusts  tor- 
menting men  f-je  months.     Whitaker's  Comment,  p.  1 23. 

t  Dr.  Prideaux  makes  the  impostor  emerge  from  his  cave  in  the  year  608.  and 
%^e.\\A  four  years  in  the  private  exercise  of  his  assumed  function.  This  arrangement 
however,  no  less  than  that  of  Mr.  Gibbon,  equally  brings  us  to  the  year  612.  Life 
of  Mohammed,  p.  15. 

§  Hist,  of  Decline  snd  FalJ,  Vol.  ix,  p.  284. 
VOL.    I.  '^I'J 


290 

cust  devastations,  and  became  a  settled  people.  Hence- 
forth they  no  longer  made  such  rapid  conquests  as  they 
had  formerly  done  ;  but  only  engaged  in  ordinary  wars 
like  other  nations.  The  Jive  months  ^Oix  \  50  years  ^  being 
now  expired,  Mohammedism  was  firmly  established  ;  al- 
though the  power  oi  \\.s,  pai^licular  votaries  the  Saracens 
began  to  decline,  in  order  to  make  room  for  its  neiv  pros- 
elytes, described  under  tfie  next  trumpet* 

A  command  ivas  given  to  ApoUijon^  and  his  sijmholical 
locusts^  that  theij  should  not  hurt  the  grass  of  the  earthy 
nor  any  green  things  nor  any  tree — Accordingly  it  was 
the  special  injunction  of  Abubeker  to  the  Saracens,  that 
they  should  destroy  no  palm  trees,  nor  burn  any  fields 
of  corn  ;  that  they  should  cut  down  no  fruit  trees,  nor 
injure  any  cattle  except  such  as  they  killed  to  eat. 

The  commission  of  the  locusts  extended  onlif  to  hurt 
those  men  iidho  had  not  the  seal  of  God  in  their  foreheads ; 
and^  though  they  were  permitted  to  hurt  them^  their  nDar- 
ratit gave  them  no  authority  to  kill  them — Now  it  appears 
from  history,  that  in  the  countries  invaded  by  the  Sara- 
cens a  very  great  defection  from,  primitive  Christianity 
had  taken  place  ;  for,  before  iMey  began  their  ravages, 
the  transgressors  (to  use  the  language  of  Daniel)  were 
come  to  the  full,  the  will-worship  of  saints  and  martyrs 
had  extended  itself  far  and  wide,  and  the  great  Apostacy 
of  1^60  days  had  commenced.  Hence  we  find,  that, 
when  they  approached  Savoy,  Piedmont,  and  the  south- 
ern provinces  of  France,  which  had  been  but  little  taint- 
ed with  the  general  disease,  and  which  were  afterwards 
the  seat  of  the  Waldensesand  Albigenses,  they  were  de- 
feated with  great  slaughter  by  Charles  Martel  in  several 
engagements.  They  were  however  only  allowed  to  tor- 
ment the  great  body  politic  of  the  apostate  empire;  they 
were  not  permitted  to  kill  it.     Accordingly,  they  were 

*  t  cannot  assent  to  Sir  Isaac  Newton's  supposition,  that  the  prophet's  repetition 
of  ibejivf  months,  in  two  difftrent  verses,  implies  ten  months,  or  iiOO  years.  Had  St. 
John  meant  to  convey  this  idea,  he  would  have  joined  ths  tivo  periods  of  five  months  each., 
by  a  conjunction  copulative,  in  the  same  verse  -,  as  thus  :  "  their  power  was  to  tor- 
ment men  five  months  and  five  months."  The  illustrious  commentator  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  aware,  that  upon  the  same  principle,  we  must  extend  the  persecution  of 
the  Church  from  \'2.Q0 years  to  twice  1260  years  ;  for  the  period  is  tiuice  mentioned  in 
fhe  single  prophecy  of  the  -zcoman  s  flight  intu  the  ■wilJi.rneu,  Compare  Rev.  xii.  6.  with 
rer.  J  4. 


291 

never  able  to  take  Constantinople,  or  to  subvert  its 
monarchy,  though  they  frequently  attempted  it  ;  the 
task  of  giving  the  fatal  blow  to  its  declining  power  being 
reserved  for  their  successors  the  Turks. 

The  symbolical  locusts  were  like  horses  prepared Jor  the 
battle:  the  strength  of  the  Saracens  consisted  chiefly  in 
their  cavalry — The  locusts  had  on  their  heads  as  it  were 
crowns  like  gold :  the  Arabs  have  constantly  worn  tur- 
bans ;  and  even  boast  that  they  wear,  as  their  common 
attire,  those  ornaments  which  among  other  people  are 
the  peculiar  badges  of  royalty — The  locusts  had  faces  as 
the  faces  of  men,  and  hair  as  the  hair  of  women  :  the  A- 
rabs,  as  Pliny  testifies,  wore  their  beards,  or  at  least  their 
mustachios,  as  men  ;  while  their  hair  was  flowing  or 
plaited,  like  that  of  women — The  teeth  of  the  locusts 
zvere  as  the  teeth  of  a  lion  ;  an  expression  frequently 
used  in  Scripture  to  denote  great  strength  ;*  the  sound 
of  their  wings  teas  as  the  sound  of  chariots  of  numij  horses 
running  to  battle ;  to  represent  at  once  the  rapid  con- 
quests of  the  Saracens,  and  their  proverbial  skill  in  horse- 
manship :  and  they  had  stings  in  their  tails  like  Scorpions ; 
to  signify  that  they  should  carry  along  with  them,  where- 
ever  they  flew,  a  loathsome  and  deadly  superstition.*]" 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  prophecy  respecting  the  Sar- 
acenic locusts,  it  is  added,  "  One  woe  is  past."  Now, 
since  we  had  already  been  informed,  that  their  power  of 
doing  mischief  was  limited  Xo  five  months,  or  150  years  ; 
it  is  evident,  that  the  first  woe-trumpet  ceased  to  sound 
at  the  end  oi  the  130  years,  or  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
762.  It  further  appears,  that  a  considerable  period  of 
time  was  to  elapse  between  the  end  o^  the  first  woe-trum- 
pet, and  the  beginning  of  the  second :  for  the  prophet 
here  simply  intimates,  that  "  there  come  two  more  woes 
hereafter ;"  whereas,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  second  woe, 
he  asserts,  "  behold  the  third  woe  cometh  quickly"X 

At  the  sounding  of  the  sixth  angel,  a  command  was 
given  him  to  loose  the  four  angels  which  are  bound  in 

*  "  Break  their  teeth,  O  God,  in  their  mouth  :  break  out  the  great  teeth  of  the 
young  lions,  O  Lord."     Psahn  Iviii.  6. 

f  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  Rev.  ix. 

\.  We  shall  find  in  the  sequd  that  this  has  been  exactly  the  case 


292 

the  great  river  Euphrates,  ready  prepared  to  slay  the 
third  part  of  men  tor  an  hour,  and  a  day,  and  a  month, 
and  a  //ear.  Thus  liberated  from  their  confinement,  the 
Jour  angels  issued  forth  at  the  head  of  two  hundred  thou- 
sand thousand  horsemen.  The  warriors  themselves  ap- 
peared to  the  prophet  to  wear  breast-plates  of  fire,  and  hy- 
arinth,  and  brimstone  ;  and  from  the  lion-hke  heads  of 
their  horses  seemed  to  proceed  fire,  and  smoke,  and  brim- 
st(me.  By  these  destructive  flashes  a  third  part  oj" men 
were  killed.  TJie  horses  oJ"  the  Euphrat^an  cavalnj,  like 
the  Saracenic  locusts,  had  power  no  less  in  their  tails  than 
in  their  mouths  :  for  "  their  tails  were  like  serpents,  and 
had  heads,  and  with  them  they  do  hurt."  Notwith- 
standing the  death  o^  the  third  part  of  men,  the  prophet 
informs  us,  that  those,  who  had  escaped  these  txoo  suc- 
cessive plagues,  still  hardened  their  hearts,  and  repented 
not  of  their  idolatry,  their  sorcery,  and  their  fornication.* 

The  four  angeis  ?.Ye  the  Jour  sultanies  oJ the  Turks; 
the  capitals  of  which  were  Bagdad, '\  Damascus,  Aleppo, 
and  Iconium.'^  These  were  long  restrained  from  extend- 
ing their  conquests  beyond  the  territories  immediately 
adjoining  to  the  river  Euphrates,  by  the  instrumentality, 
in  the  course  of  God's  providence,  of  the  crusades.  But, 
when  the  Christians  abandoned  Syria  and  Egypt  at  the 
latter  end  of  the  thirteenth  centurij,  then  the  Jour  angels 
on  the  river  Euphrates  were  loosed.  Ortogrul,  dying  in 
the  year  12SS,  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Othman  ;  who, 
In  the  year  1299,  founded  a  new  empire  composed  of  the 
remains  o'i  the  four  Turkish  sultanies. 

Under  the  Jjth  trumpet,  we  have  seen  the  men,  who 
had  not  the  seal  of  God  in  their  foreheads,  tormented 
but  not  killed.  We  now  find,  under  the  sixth  trumpet, 
that  the  third  part  oj^  men,   or  the  Roman  empire  then 

*  Rev.  ix.  13—21. 

f  Late  the  proud  seat  of  Saracenic  domination. 

\  The  TOMmbcT  four  twee  occurs  in  the  early  history  of  the  Turks,  no  less  than  in 
the  precise  number  of  theur  Sultanies.  Soliman  Shah  was  dro^\Tied  in  attempting  to 
cross  the  Euphrates  with  his  three  sons  ;  and  was  succeeded  by  his  youngest  son  Orio- 
ffiiil,  who  had  likewise  three  sons.  I  think  liowever,  that  the  four  Sultanies  are  pecu- 
liarly meant  ;  for  prophecy  usually  speaks  of  states,  rather  than  of  individuals.  But, 
in  whatever  manner  the  prediction  of  the  four  Euphratean  angels  be  understood,  it  is 
accurately  accomplished  ia  the  fortunes  of  ths  Turkish  emfire. 


represented  by  the  Constant'inopolitan  monarchij^  is  to  be 
sluin^  and  not  merely  tormented  by  the  Euphrathin 
horsemen* 

The  space  of  time,  allotted  for  the  entire  completion 
of  this  great  enterprize,  is  an  hour,  and  a  day,  and  a  month, 
and  a  if  ear  ;  or  391  natural  years  and  1.5  days.  The  ac- 
curate accomplishment  of  this  numerical  prophecy  is  sin- 
gularly remarkable.  The  Turks,  under  Ortogrul,  gained 
their  first  victory  over  the  Greek  empire  in  the  year  1281, 
by  the  conquest  of  Cutahi  :  in  the  year  1357,  they  cross- 
ed over  into  Europe  :  in  the  year  1453,  they  took  Con- 
stantinople ;  and  the  remaining  provinces  of  the  empire 
soon  followed  the  fate  of  the  capital  :  in  the  year  1669, 
they  made  themselves  masters  of  (Jrete  :  and  in  the  year 
1672,  they  wrested  Cameniec,  their  last  conquest,  from 
the  Poles.  If  now  we  compute  391  years  from  the  year 
1281,  they  will  exactly  bring  us  down  to  the  year  1672. 
Upon  this  wonderful  coincidence,  Bp.  Newton  further 
remarks,  "  if  more  accurate  and  authentic  histories  of 
the  Ottomans  were  brought  to  light,  and  we  knew  the 
•very  day  wherein  Cutahi  was  taken  as  certainly  as  we 
know  that  wherein  Cameniec  was  taken,  the  like  exact- 
ness might  also  be  found  in  thejiffeen  days."  Since  the 
time  of  their  last  conquest,  the  Turks  have  had  various 
wars  with  the  European  powers,  and  with  various  suc- 
cess ;  but  they  have  never  made  any  fresh  territorial  ac- 
quisition, and  now  in  all  human  probability  never  will. 

The  cavalry  of  the  Euphrat}an  xvarriors  is  described  as 
consisting  oj*  myriads  upon  myriads  :  and  they  are  rep  re- 
sented  as  liiearing  breast-plates  of  fire,  of  hyacinth,  and  of 
brimstone  ;  or,  in  other  zvords,  red,  blue,  and  yellovD. 
The  Turks  brought  immense  armies  into  the  field,  com- 
posed chiefly  of  horse  ;  and,  from  the  first  time  of  their 

*  I  have  already  stated,  on  what  grounds  the  Roman  Empire  is  represented  as  a 
third  part  of  the  symbolical  tini'vcrse.  It  may  not  be  improper  here  to  observe,  that  the 
death  of  a  beast  and  the  death  of  a  community  do  not  mean  the  same  thing.  The  death  of 
a  beast  denotes  the  extinction  of  those  idolatrous  principles  ivhich  cause  a  pagan  empire  to  be 
symbolized  by  a  beast  :  whereas  the  death  of  a  community  denotes  its  sub-version.  Hence 
we  do  not  find  it  said,  that  the  Roman  beast  was  slain  by  the  Euphratean  horsemen^  because 
such  phraseology  would  not  have  conveyed  the  intended  meaning  of  the  prophet  ; 
but  that  the  third  part  of  men,  or  the  body  politic  of  ichat  remained  of  the  original  empire, 
was  slain.  Accordingly,  in  perfect  agreement  with  this  distinction,  the  Roman  beast 
still  continued  to  exist,  and  will  exist  to  the  very  end  oi  the  1 260  j^arj,  notwithstand- 
ing the  political  death  of  the  third  part  of  mm. 


294 

appearance,  have  been  peculiarly  attached  to  the  colours 
of  blue,  yellow,  and  scarlet — The  heads  of  their  horses 
were  as  the  heads  of  lions,  to  denote  their  great  strength 
and  fierceness  :  out  of  their  mouths  seemed  to  issue  fire, 
and  smoke,  and  brimstone  :  and  bi/  this  semblance  of  light- 
ning, the  prophet  observed,  that  the  third  part  of  men  iiDere 
killed.  This  is  a  manifest  allusion  to  artillery  and  gun- 
powder, which  were  invented  under  the  sixth  trumpet, 
and  were  the  main  engines  used  by  the  Turks,  in  sub- 
verting the  Greek  empire — The  horses  moreover  had 
power  to  do  hurt  bij  their  tails,  as  well  as  by  their  mouths, 
their  tails  being  like  unto  serpents,  and  having  heads.  The 
Turks,  like  the  Saracens,  were  not  merely  secular  con- 
querors, but  were  animated  with  all  the  wild  fanaticism 
of  a  false  religion.  They  profess  and  propagate  the  same 
imposture  ;  they  injure  no  less  by  their  doctrines,  than 
by  their  conquests  ;  and,  wherever  they  establish  their 
dominion,  the  Koran  triumphs  over  the  Gospel. 

Yet,  notwithstanding  the  signal  overthro'w  of  tlie  Con- 
st antinopolit  an  monarchy,  the  rest  of  men,  who  were  not 
killed  by  these  plagues,  repented  not  of  their  idolatrous 
worship  of  mediatory  saints  and.  angels,  nor  of  their  spirit- 
ual sorceries  and  fornication — x\ccordingly  we  find,  that  in 
the  papal  church  idolatry  was  at  its  height  during  the 
sounding  of  the  sixth  trumpet  :  in  the  same  manner  as 
Mohammedism  attained  to  the  zenith  of  its  glory  by  the 
subversion  of  the  Greek  empire.  Previous  to  this  period, 
the  Greek  church  had  struggled  successfully  with  the 
Roman  church  for  independence  and  equality  :  but  the 
downfall  of  Constantinople  effectually  humbled  both  the 
ecclesiastical  rival  of  Popery,  and  the  temporal  antago- 
nist of  Mohammedism.  In  the  days  of  the  Saracens, 
the  Arabian  imposture  triumphed  over  the  proud  monar- 
chy of  Persia  ;  but  Avas  only  able  to  torment  the  declin- 
ing remains  of  the  once  formidable  empire  of  Rome.  In 
the  days  of  the  Turks,  it  beheld  the  city  of  Constantine 
prostrate  at  its  feet,  as  well  as  the  capital  of  Chosroes. 
Still  however  did  the  church  of  Rome  continue  her  tri- 
umphs over  sense,  humanity,  and  religion.  Unawed  by 
the  signal  punishment  of  her  sister  of  Constantinople, 
she  resolutely  set  her  face  against  the  reformation  which 


29o 

commenced  under  this  trumpet^  and  persecuted  thos6 
who  protested  against  her  superstition  and  appealed  to 
Scripture  :  a  more  tremendous  po-ixer  therefore,  than  ei- 
ther Me  Saracens  ox  the  Turks,  will  be  summoned  against 
her  by  the  blast  of  the  third  looe  ;  which  nevertheless 
will  afterwards  perish,  united  with  her. 

It  is  observable,  that  the  pi^ecise  duration  of  the  second 
"iisoe-trumpet,  is  not  marked  by  St.  John  in  his  prophecy 
of  the  Euphratean  horsemen.  The  Turks  were  prepared 
for  the  slaughter  of  the  third  part  of  men,  an  hour,  and 
a  day,  and  a  month,  and  a  year;  or  391  natural  years 
and  \5  days  :  consequently  the  second  zooe-trumpet  be- 
gan to  sound  at  the  commencement  of  those  391  years^ 
or  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  128 1  ;  but  it  does  not  termi- 
nate till  the  great  earthquake  in  the  West  has  takea 
place,  and  till  a  tenth  pai^t  of  the  Roman  city  has  fallen.* 
Then  we  are  informed,  that  "  the  second  woe  is  past 
and,  behold,  the  third  woe  cometh  quickly." 

'  Rer.  xi.  13. 


END    OF    VOL.    r. 


A 

DISSERTATION 

ON    THE 

PROPHECIES, 

THAT  HAVE  BEEN  FULFILLED,   ARE  NOW  FULFILLING, 
OR  WILL  HEREAFTER  BE  FULFILLED, 

RELATIVE  TO  THE 

GREAT  PERIOD   OF  1260  YEARS; 

THE  PAPAL  AND  MOHAMMEDAN  APOSTACIES  ; 

THE  TYRANNICAL  REIGN   OF  ANTICHRIST,    OR  THE  INFIDEL 

POWER  ; 

AND 

THE  RESTORATION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

TO  WHICH  IS  ADDED, 

AN  APPENDIX. 


BY  THE  REV.  GEORGE  STANLEY  FABER,  B.  D. 

VICAR  OF  STOCKTON-UPON-TEE3. 


tIRST  AMERICAN  FROM  THE  SECOND  LONDON  EDITION. 

IN  TWO  VOLUMES. 


"  Shut  up  the  Words,  and  seal  the  Book,  even  to  the  time  of  the  end  :  many  shall  run 
to  and  fro,  and  knowledge  shall  be  increased.''    Dan.  xii.  4. 


BOSTON  ; 
PUBLISHED  BY  ANDREWS  AND  CUMMINGS. 

ORBENOUGH  AND  STEBBINS,  PRINTERS. 
1808. 


CONTENTS. 


VOL.    II. 


CHAP,  X. 

Contents  of  the  little  book—  History  of  the  Western  Apostacy  under  the  three  'woe'trumpcts. 

THE  little  book  comprehends  the  eleventh,  twelfth,  thirteenth,  and  fourteenth 
chapters  of  the  Revelation,  p.  9. —  These  chapters  in  point  of  chronology,  run  par- 
allel to  each  other,  p.  9. — And  they  form  a  complete  history  of  the  Western  Apos- 
tacy, p.  10. — The  contents  of  the  little  book  may  be  properly  divided  into  five  sec- 
tions :  1.  The  prophesying  of  the  witnesses  ;  2.  The  war  of  the  dragon  with  the 
woman  ;  3.  The  history  of  the  ten-horned  beast  of  the  sea ;  4.  The  history  of  the 
two-homed  beast  of  the  earth  ;  5.  The  collateral  history  of  the  true  Church,  of  the 
Refomaation,  and  of  the  harvest  and  vintage  of  God's  wrath,  p.  1 2. 

SECT.  I. 

Concemisg  the  prophesying  of  the  iivo  ivitnesses. 

THE  little  book  commences  with  the  year  606,  or  with  the  beginning  of  the 
first  woe-trumpet,  p.  12. — What  is  meant  by  measuring  the  temple,  and  not  measur- 
ing the  outer  court  of  the  Gentiles,  p.  13. —  The  two  witnesses  are  not  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments,  p.  1 4. — Bp.  Newton  is  perfectly  right  in  the  spirit,  though  not  quite 
accurate  in  the  letter,  of  his  interpretation  of  their  character,  p.  15. — They  are  cer- 
tainly two  churches,  p.  15. — Throughout  the  whole  Apocalypse,  the  idea  of  a  two- 
fold Church  of  Christ  is  constantly  preserved  :  the  Church  before,  and  the  Church 
after,  the  advent  of  our  Lord,  p.  15. — The  two  witnesses  literally  represent  these  two 
Churches,  forming  jointly  the  faithful  Church  general :  but  spiritually  they  mean  the 
mystical  children  of  the  universal  Church,  those  that  are  Israelites  indeed,  p.  16. — 
The  circumstance  of  their  being  said  to  prophesy  is  no  objection  to  the  supposition, 
that  they  symbolize  all  God's  faithful  witnesses  during  the  prevalence  of  the  Aposta- 
cy, p.  1 7. — In  what  sense  they  shut  up  heaven,  and  smite  the  earth  with  plagues,  dur- 
ing the  time  of  their  prophesying,  p.  17. — In  what  sense  they  are  said  to  have  only 
one  mouth,  p.  18. — How,  and  when,  the  two  witnesses  were  slain  by  the  beast  of  the 
bottomless  pit,  p.  2L — Our  Lord  was  literally  crucified  within  the  limits  of  the  great 
city,  p.  22. — In  what  manner  the  witnesses  lay  dead  three  days  and  a  half,  p.  24. — 
The  meaning  of  the  word  Hour,  p.  32. — At  what  period  we  are  to  divide  the  first 
woe-triunpet  from  the  second  woe-trumpec  in  the  history  of  the  Western  Apostacy, 
p.  35. — At  the  close  of  the  second  woe,  the  great  earthquake  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion throws  down  a  tenth  part  of  the  Roman  city,  p.  40. — At  the  sounding  of  the 
seventh  trumpet,  or  third  woe-trumpet,  the  limited  monarchy  of  revolutionary 
France  is  dissolved  ;  and  the  reign  of  openly  established  Anarchy  and  Atheism  com- 
mences, p.  42. 


SECT.  ir. 

Concerning  the  luar  of  the  dragon  •with  the  ivoman. 

THE  prophecy  of  the  war  between  the  dragon  and  the  woman  cannot  relate 
to  the  days  of  Constantine  ;  both  because  it  is  contained  in  the  httle  book,  and  be- 
cause it  twice  declares  itself  to  be  connected  with  the  1260  years  of  the  Apostacy, 
p.  51. — The  woman  is  the  spiritual  Church  of  true  believers,  as  contradistinguished 
from  the  nominal  behevers  of  the  outer  court,  p.  58. — The  dragon  is  the  devil  acting 
through  the  instrumentality  of  the  seven-headed  and  ten-homed  beast,  p.  58. — Diffi- 
culty of  interpreting  the  symbol  of  the  man-child,  p.  60. — What  is  meant  by  the 
fall  of  the  dragon  from  heaven  to  earth,  p.  64. — The  war  between  Michael  and  the 
dragon  is  the  spiritual  contest  between  the  witnesses  and  their  enemies  during  the 
whole  period  of  the  1260  years  :  but  the  particular  victory  of  Michael,  here  men- 
tioned, was  achieved  at  the  era  of  the  Reformation,  p.  64. — In  what  sense  the  devil 
hath  but  a  short  time  upon  earth,  p.  66. — An  attempt  to  trace  the  steps  of  the  dragon, 
after  he  was  cast  out  of  the  symbolical  heaven  by  the  Reformation,  p.  66. — The 
meaning  of  the  flood,  which  he  vomited  out  of  his  mouth  against  the  woman,  p.  73. — 
In  what  manner  the  earth  swallowed  it  up,  p.  74. —  How  the  dragon  will  go  forth  to 
make  war  with  the  woman  and  the  remnant  of  her  seed,  p.  75. 

SECT.  III. 

Concerning  the  ten-Lorned  beait  of  the  sea. 

THE  seven-headed  and  ten-horned  beast  of  the  sea  is  not  the  same  as  his 
own  little  horn  mentioned  bv  Daniel,  or  the  Papacy,  p.  78. — On  the  contrary,  he 
is  the  same  as  Daniel's  ten-horned  beast,  of  whom  the  little  Papal  horn  was  only 
a  single  member  :  that  is  to  say,  he  is  the  temporal  Roman  Empire,  p.  86. — In  what 
sense  St.  John  beheld  the  rise  of  the  ten-horned  beast,  p.  88. — How  the  ten  horned 
beast  is  said  to  continue  or  to  practise  42  months,  which  is  the  same  period  as  the 
reign  of  his  ov.'n  little  horn,  p.  8S. — In  what  sense  it  is  said,  tliat  this  beast  "was, 
and  is  not,  and  yet  i?,"'  p.  89. — The  apocalyptic  ten-horned  beast  is  the  Roman  beast, 
in  his  revived  or  papally  idolatrous  state,  p.  90. — How  he  h  said  to  have  seven 
heads,  p.  91. — In  what  sense  he  was  wounded  to  death  by  a  sword  under  his  sixth 
head,  and  afterwards  restored  to  life  again,  p.  93. — An  inquiry  into  what  is  meant 
by  the  last  head  of  the  beast,  p.  101. — This  last  head  can  only  be  sought  for  among 
the  following  powers :  the  hne  of  the  Western  Emperors  ;  the  three  kingdoms  of 
the  HeruU,  the  Ostrogoths,  and  the  Lombards  ;  the  Exarchate  of  Ravenna ;  the 
Popedom  ;  and  the  Carlo vingian  empire,  p.  107. — The  last  head  of  the  beast  con- 
sists jointl)''  of  his  seventh  and  eighth  heads  ;  whence  it  may  be  termed  his  septimo- 
octavc  head,  p.  107. — This  septimo-octave  head  cannot  be  the  line  of  the  Western 
Emperors  and  the  Papacy,  p.  108. — Neither  can  it  be  the  three  Gotliic  kingdoms  in 
Italy  and  the  Papacy,  p.  108. — Nor  can  it  be  the  Exarchate  of  Ravenna  and  the  Pa- 
pacy, p.  109. — Nor  the  Papacy,  considered  as  existing  in  a  two  fold  capacity,  p.  1 1 1 . 
— But  the  Patriciate  of  Rome  merging  into  the  Carlovingian  Emperorship,  p.  114. — 
While  Charlemagne  was  Patrician  of  Rome,  he  was  the  seventh  head :  when  he  became 
Emperor,  he  was  the  eighth  head  ;  the  seventh  and  eighth  heads  being  then,  in  his  per- 
son, amalgamated,  as  it  were,  so  as  to  form  one  septimo-cctave  licad,  p.  1 14. — Three 
objections  to  this  scheme  of  interpretation  answered,  p.  1 1 7. — No  power  lias  ever  vet 
arisen  withiji  the  hmits  of  the  Roman  Empire,  wliicli  at  all  answers  to  the  prophetic- 
character  of  the  double  or  septimo-octave  head,  except  the  Carlovingian  monarchy 
alone,  p.  123. — On  what  head  of  the  beast  the  ten  hums  appeared  to  be  growing,. 
p.  12}.— Various  points  of  resem.blance  between  the  beast  and  the  revived  or  Papal 
Roman  Empire,  p.  1  25 — General  statement  of  the  whole  interpretation  of  tlie  sym- 
bol of  the  seven-headed  ;md  ten-horned  beast,  p.  128. — Accomplishment  of  the  last 
part  of  the  prophecy,  p.  1 29. 


\ 


SECT.     IV. 

Concerning  the  tzvo-borned  beast  of  the  earth, 

THE  two-horned  beast  of  the  earth  and  the  image  are  not  Infidelity  and 
democratic  Tyranny,  p.  131. — Neither  are  they  the  French  Republic  and  the  pros- 
titute goddess  of  reason  and  Hberty,  p.  136. — The  two  horned  beast  is  not  the  same 
as  the  beast  of  the  bottomless  pit — Ludo-vkus  cannot  be  the  name  of  the  beast,  p. 
138. — The  two-homed  beast  is  not  the  Romish  clergy,  as  contradistinguished  from 
the  Papacy,  p.  140. — But  he  is  the  cathohc  spiritual  empire  of  the  church  of  Rome, 
considered  as  including  both  the  Pope  his  head,  and  the  regular  and  secular  papal 
clergy  his  two  lamb-like  horns,  or  distinct  ecclesiastical  kingdoms,  p.  141. — This 
spiritual  empire,  which  at  its  first  rise  was  only  a  small  spiritual  kingdom,  is  repre- 
sented by  Daniel  under  the  symbol  of  a  little  horn  springing  up  among  the  ten  horns 
of  the  Roman  beast  :  but,  when  the  saints  were  given  into  the  hand  of  the  httle 
horn  by  the  Pope  being  constituted  Bishop  of  Bishops  and  supreme  head  of  the  uni- 
versal Church,  the  little  horn  became  a  catholic  spiritual  empire,  and  as  such  is  rep- 
resented by  St.  John  under  the  symbol  of  a  second  beast  co-operating  with  the  ten- 
horned  or  secular  Roman  beast,  p.  142. — Points  of  resemblance  between  the  two- 
horned  beast  and  the  Papacy,  p.  143. — His  two  horns,  p.  144. — His  first  horn  sym- 
bolizes the  regular  clergy,  p.  147. — His  second  horn,  the  secular  clergj^  p.  149. — 
His  making  of  an  image  for  the  ten-horned  beast  is  the  revival  of  idolatry  by  the 
Pope,  p.  159. — Reasons  why  the  image  cannot  be  either  the  Pope,  the  Carlovingian 
empire,  or  the  Inquisition,  p.  1 68. — The  prophetic  description  of  the  name  of  the 
beast  must  be  carefully  attended  to,  in  order  to  discover  what  it  is  :  for  it  is  not  suflS- 
cient  merely  to  discover  a  name  that  comprehends  the  number  666,  and  thence  to 
infer  that  that  name  is  the  name  of  the  beast,  p.  172. — The  opinion  of  Ireneus  upon 
this  point  is  perfectly  just,  p.  174. — Latinus  is  the  name  of  the  beast  ;  both  because 
it  contains  the  number  666,  because  it  is  the  name  of  a  man,  because  it  is  the  name 
of  an  empire,  and  because  it  is  the  gentile  name  of  every  individual  in  that  empire, 
p.  174. — The  mark  of  the  beast  is  the  cross,  as  abused  by  the  secular  Latin  empire 
to  the  purposes  of  cruelty  and  superstition,  p.  176. — The  two  apocalyptic  beasts  in 
short  are  the  two  contemporary  Latin  empires,  secular  and  spiritual,  p.  181. — To 
shew  their  close  connection  with  each  otlier  yet  further,  St.  John  afterwards  repre- 
sents them  jointly  under  one  great  compound  symbol,  a  harlot  or  apostate  church, 
riding  upon  a  seven-headed  and  ten-horned  temporal  beast,  p.  181. 

SECT.    V. 

The  history  of  the  true    Church    during  the  period  of  the  great  Apostacy — The  hat-oest  and 
•vintage  of  God's  ivrath. 

UNDER  the  image  of  144,000  sealed  servants  of  God  standing  and  exulting 
on  the  mount  Zion,  is  represented  the  desolate  church  in  the  wilderness,  sorrowful 
yet  always  rejoicing,  during  the  period  of  the  1260  years,  p.  185.— The  144,000  are 
the  same  as  the  two  mystic  witnessess  ;  and  they  peculiarlv  represent  the  internal 
state  of  the  Church  previous  to  the  era  of  the  Reformation,  although  the  witnessess 
will  continue  more  or  less  to  prophesy  in  sackcloth  to  the  very  time  of  the  end,  p. 
186. —  Their  joy  is  purely  of  a  spiritual  nature,  and  subsists  along  with  great  tempo- 
ral distress,  p.  186. — After  describing  the  144,000,  the  prophet  suddenly  introduces 
an  angel-flying  in  the  midst  of  heaven  and  bearing  the  everlasting  Gospel,  p.  188. — 
By  this  angel  Luther  and  his  followers  seem  to  be  intended,  through  whose  instru- 
mentality the  Reformation  was  most  unexpectedly  begun,  p.  188. — The  first  angel 
is  foUov/ed  by  a  second,  prophetically  denouncing'the  destruction  of  the  mystic  Bab- 
ylon, p.  190. — By  this  angel  Calvin,  and  the  diflferent  reformed  continental  churches 
of  his  persuasion,  appear  to  be  meant,  p.  190.— The  second  angel  is  followed  by  a 
third,  denouncing  everlasting  miser)'  to  those,  v/Iio  shall  continue  to  worship  the 
beast  and  his  image,  and  to  receive  his  mark,  p.  192. — By  this  third  angel,  the  third 
great  branch  of  the  Reformation,  the  Church  pf  England,  which  is  not  professedly 


either  Lutheran  or  Calvanistic,  seems  to  be  represented,  p.  1 93. — The  great  perse- 
cutions at  the  era  ot  the  Reformation  predicted,  p.  193. — Having  passed  the  opoch 
of  the  Reformation,  the  prophet  describes  in  brief  the  events  of  the  third  woe-trum- 
pet under  the  types  of  a  harvest  and  a  vintage  ;  for  this  last  chapter  of  the  Httle 
book,  Hke  the  preceding  ones,  extends  through  the  whole  period  of  the  1260  days, 
p.  194. — The  history  of  the  third  woe-trumpet  however  the  prophet  details  at  large 
in  the  greater  book  of  the  Revelation,  dividing  it  into  the  seven  periods  of  the  seven 
vials,  p.  196. — These  vials  must  be  arranged  in  three  classes,  in  order  that  they  may 
be  made  to  synchronize  with  the  harvest  and  the  vintage  :  namely,  the  vials  of  the 
harvest ;  the  intermediate  vials  ;  and  the  vial  of  the  vintage,  p.  197. 


CHAP.  XI. 


Coitecriiiag  the  effects  of  the  last  ivoe-trurnpet,  the  pauring  out  of  the  seiten  vials,  and  the  reslo- 
ruticn  of  the  Jezvs. 

AT  the  sounding  of  the  last  woe-trumpet,  the  seven  vials  full  of  the  last 
plagues  are  poured  out,  p.  1 98. — The  seven  vials  are  all  posterior  to  the  1 2th  of  Au- 
gust, 1792,  when  the  third  woe-tnimpet  began  to  sound,  and  when  Antichrist  was 
revealed,  p.  198. — They  more  or  less  affect  both  the  East  and  the  West,  p.  199. — 
Though  they  succeed  each  other  in  regular  chronological  order,  no  intimation  is  giv- 
en, that  one  shall  be  completely  emptied,  before  another  begins  to  be  poured  out,  p. 
200. — The  harvest  comprehends  the  three  first  vials,  and  symbohzcs  the  miseries  in- 
flicted upon  mankind  by  the  tyranny  of  Antichrist  during  the  madness  of  the  French 
Revolution,  p.  200. — The  vintage  synchronizes  v/iih  the  seventh  vial,  and  relates  to 
the  final  destruction  of  all  God's  enemies  in  the  land  of  Palestine,  p.  200. — The  re- 
maining three  vials  occupy  the  intermediate  space  between  the  harvest  and  the  vin- 
tage, p.  200. 

SECT.  I. 

Concerning  the  via/s  of  the  hatvesl. 

THE  harvest  may  be  considered  as  commencing,  not  merely  with  the  first 
vial,  but  with  the  earliest  blast  of  the  third  woe  ;  and  the  downfall  of  the  tenth  part 
of  the  great  city  may  be  esteemed  the  first  fruits  of  it,  p.  201. — The  harvest  describes 
the  miseries,  both  internal  and  external,  produced  by  the  frantic  anarchy  of  the 
French  Revolution  ;  and  comprehends  the  three  first  vials,  p.  201. — At  the  pouring 
out  of  the  first  vial  on  the  26th  of  August,  1792,  the  noisome  sore  of  atheism  breaks 
out,  or  publicly  makes  its  appearance,  in  France  and  throughout  the  whole  Latin 
earth,  p.  202. — At  the  pouring  out  of  the  second  vial  in  the  beginning  of  September, 
1792,  the  horrible  and  long  protracted  massacres,  perpetrated  during  what  was  call- 
ed the  reign  of  terror,  commence,  p.  204. —  At  the  pouring  out  of  the  third  vial,  the 
regularly  established  governments  of  the  Latin  empire  experienced  dreadful  devas- 
tation from  the  arms  of  Republican  France  during  a  series  of  bloody  and  unsuccessful 
campaigns,  the  issue  of  which  has  been  a  tremendous  aggrandizement  of  that  hifidel 
pov^rer,  p.  205. — The  figurative  harvest  having  been  gathered  in  when  France  once 
more  became  a  monarchy,  and  when  a  general  peace  was  made  in  the  year  1 801 ,  the 
affairs  of  the  world  have  in  some  measure  returned  to  their  old  channel,  p.  209. 

SECT.     II. 

Concerning  the  three  intermediate  vials. 

THE  period  between  the  harvest  and  the  vintage  is  marked  by  the  pouring 
out  of  three  vials,  the  last  of  which  is  the  precursor  of  the  vintage,  p.  209. — At  the 


ouring  out  of  the  fourth  vial,  the  sun  of  the  Latin  firmament,  or  the  now-existing' 
)rincipal  government  of  the  divided  Papal  Roman  empire,  scorches  men  with  the 
•Jitoierable  heat  of  a  sptematic  military  tyranny,  p.  210. — This  government  is  that 
of  France,  under  the  present  despotic  usurper  ;  and  the  blaze  of  his  tyranny  extends 
not  merely  to  France,  but  likewise  to  Holland,  Switzerland,  Italy,  Spain,  and  all  the 
west  of  Germany,  p.  21 1. — The  influence  of  this  vial  will  probably  continue  to  the 
days  of  the  vintage,  and  the  mihtary  tyranny  produced  by  it  be  the  principal  im- 
mediate instrument  of  forming  the  great  confederacy,  p.  212. — We  must  not  look 
for  any  further  Reformation  from  Popery,  p.  213. — Reasons  for  thinking,  that  there 
will  be  no  fresh  general  persecution  of  Protestanism  ;  or  at  least  that  no  attempt  of 
that  nature  will  jirove  successful,  p.  213. — All  the  remaining  vials  are  as  yet  future. 
At  the  pouring  out  of  the  fifth  vial,  some  great  temporary-  calamity  will  fall  upon 
the  empire  of  the  secular  beast  ;  but,  wJiat  event  maybe  alluded  to,  or  what  power 
will  then  be  the  last  head  of  the  beast,  it  is  impossible  at  prese  it  to  determine,  p.  215. 
— At  the  pouring  out  of  the  sixth  vial,  the  waters  of  the  mystic  Euphrates,  which 
symbolize  the  Turkish  monarchy,  will  be  completely  dried  up,  in  order  that  a  way 
may  be  prepared  for  the  kings  from  the  East,  p.  217. — These  waters  have  already 
begun  to  experience  a  rapid  and  great  exhaustion  ;  whence  we  may  infer,  that  the 
era  of  the  sixth  vial,  or  the  downfall  of  the  Ottoman  pov.-er,  cannot  be  very  far  dis- 
tant, p.  218. — Whenever  that  event  happens,  it  will  serve  as  a  key  to  the  right  ex- 
planation of  the  fifth  vial,  p.  219. — The  kings  from  the  East  are  most  probably  the 
ten  tribes  of  Israel,  for  the  restoration  of  which  the  overthrow  of  the  Turkish  em- 
pire wiO  prepare  a  way,  p.  219. — Under  this  vial,  the  kings  of  the  Latin  earth  will 
begin  to  be  gathered  together  to  the  great  battle  of  Armageddon,  by  the  beast  and 
the  false  prophet,  p.  222. 

SECT.     III. 

Concerning  tie  •vial  of  the  vint^ig^. 

THE  vintage  is  the  catastrophe  of  the  great  drama  of  the  1260  years,  and 
synchronizes  with  the  last  vial,  or  the  vial  of  consummation,  p.  223. — At  the  pour- 
ing out  of  the  seventh  vial,  three  important  events  take  place  :  the  earthquake,  by 
which  the  Latin  city  is  divided  in  three  parts  ;  the  overthrow  of  the  great  scarlet 
whore,  or  the  spiritual  Babylon  ;  and  the  battle  of  Armageddon,  p.  225. — The  ITth^ 
18th,  and  19th,  chapters  of  the  Revelation  all  belong  to  the  last  vial,  or  the  times  ci 
the  vintage,  p.  225. — The  war,  which  will  be  decided  at  Armageddon,  will  be  un- 
dertaken by  a  confederacy  of  the  beast,  the  false  prophet,  and  the  kings  of  the  Latiu 
or  Papal  earth,  p.  228. — The  infidel  king  will  be  deeply  concerned  in  it,  p.  231. — 
The  confederacy  will  probably  be  made  against  the  Pi'otestant  powers,  and  the  con- 
verted Jews  now  about  to  be  restored  to  their  own  countn,-,  p.  229. — The  infidel 
king  may  possibly  before  this  period  become  the  last  head  of  the  beast  ;  and  thuo 
take  the  lead  in  the  expedition,  as  he  is  represented  doing  by  Daniel,  p.  230. — The 
four  parallel  prophecies  of  St.  John,  Daniel,  Zechariah,  and  Joel,  cited  and  compar- 
ed with  each  other,  p.  232. —  These  corresponding  prophecies  throw  much  light  up- 
on the  events  of  the  seventh  vial,  p.  238. — The  battle  of  Armageddon  will  literaliv 
be  fought  in  Palestine  between  the  two  seas,  p.  2 IC. — The  particular  scene  of  the 
conflict  will  be  Megiddo  ;  for  Armageddon  signifies  tha  dssinutkn  at  Megiddo,  p.  242. 
— The  war,  which  this  battle  will  terminate,  will,  in  one  sense  or  another,  be  a  reli- 
gious war  or  crusade,  p.  243. — Statement  of  the  order,  in  which  the  events  at  the 
close  of  the  12G0  years  will  probably  succeed  each  other,  p.  244. — When  those  years 
shall  have  expired,  the  Jews  will  begin  to  be  restored,  p.  244. —  One  great  body  of 
them  will  be  restored  in  a  converted  state  by  some  powerful  maritime  nation  of  faith- 
ful worshippers,  p.  245. — Another  great  body  of  them  will  be  restored  in  an  uncon- 
verted state  by  the  .-Vntichristian  faction,  p.  24"  — Route  of  Antichrist  to  Palestine, 
p.  247. — Rout  of  the  maritime  nation  to  Palestine,  p.  248. — Conversion  of  the  un- 
believing Jews,  whom  Antichrist  had  placed  in  Jerusalem,  p.  248. — Antichrist  re- 
turns from  Egypt,  whither  he  had  marched  after  the  conquest  of  Palestine,  and  sacks 
Jerusalem,  p.  249.  -  He  prepares  to  attack  the  troops  of  the  maritime  power,  and  the 
converted  Jews  under  its  protection  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Megiddo,  p,  250. — He 


s 

IS  miraculously  overthrown  by  the  word  of  God,  p.  251. — The  Jews  will  suffer  se- 
verely in  the  course  of  their  restoration,  p.  253. — A  third  part  of  the  Antichrlstian 
army  will  be  spared  ;  and,  being  scattered  throughout  the  whole  world,  will  be  in- 
strumental in  bringing  about  the  restoration  of  the  ten  tribes,  p.  254. — When  these 
are  restored,  they  will  jointly  form  one  nation  with  Judah,  p.  255. — The  restoration 
of  Judah  will  probably  occupy  a  period  of  30  years,  and  the  subsequent  restoration 
of  Israel,  a  period  of  45  years,  p.  256. — At  the  end  of  this  last  period  the  Millenni- 
um will  commence,  p.  257. — How  far  prophecy  enables  us  to  ascertain  the  power 
intended  by  the  great  maritime  nation  of  faithful  worshippers,  p.  258.  —A  summing 
up  of  the  particulars,  which  may  be  collected  from  prophecy,  relative  to  the  resto- 
ration of  the  house  of  Israel,  and  the  other  events  which  take  place  during  the  time 
of  the  end,  p.  259. 


CHAP.    XII. 

Recapitulation  and  Conclusion. 

PROPER  date  of  the  1260  years,  p.  26I.~Prophecies  respecting  the  Papal 
little  horn,  p.  262.  -Prophecies  respecting  the  Mohammedan  little  horn,  p.  263. — 
Prophecies  respecting  the  Infidel  king,  p.  264. — We  are  now  living  under  the  fourth 
vial,  p.  265. — All  the  concurring  sigTis  of  the  times  indicate,  that  we  cannot  be  far" 
removed  from  the  termination  of  the  1260  years,  p.  265,— Conclusion,  p.  268. 

APPENDIX,  p.  269. 


A  DISSERTATION^  ^c. 


CHAPTER    X. 

Contents    of  the  little  book — Historij   of  the  Wesfenj, 
Apostacy  under  the  three  woe-trumpets. 

ST.  JOHN,  having  shewn  the  effects  of  the  two 
first  woe-trumpets  in  the  East^  next  passes  to  the  collat- 
eral and  contemporary  history  of  the  West  :  for  the 
same  woe-trumpet,  which  called  into  action  the  Moham- 
medan Apostaci/,  produced  likewise  the  developement  of 
the  papal  Aposfacij  ;  both  these  two  litt'e  horns  coni- 
mencing  their  joint  reign  of  1260  prophetic  days  in  the 
self-same  year. 

In  order  to  avoid  needless  confusion,  the  Apostle 
throws  the  zvhole  history  of  Popery^  during  the  whole 
1260  days,  and  under  all  the  three  woe-trumpets ^  into  a 
sort  of  episode  to  his  ^-e^^era/ series  of  prophecies  ;  which 
he  terms  a  little  book,  or  codicil  to  his  greater  book  of 
the  Apocalijpse.  This  little  book  comprehends  the  ele- 
vienth,  tzcelfth,  thirteenth,  di'Cid  fourteenth  chapters  of  the 
Revelation  :  and,  in  point  of  chronology,  all  these  chap- 

*  Bp.  Newton  is  certainly  much  mistaken  in  saying,  that  the  little  book  "  properly 
(»meth  under  the  sixth  trumpet."  The  little  boot  itself  repeatedly  declares,  that  it  com- 
prehends all  the  1 260  years  :  but  the  1 260  years  extend  through  the  ivhole  period  of 
the  three  ivoe-trumpets  ;  or  at  least  through  the  whole  of  it,  except  that  part  which 
is  included  in  the  effusion  of  the  last  -vial,  and  which  synchronizes  with  Daniel's 
time  of  the  end :  whence  it  is  manifest,  that  the  little  book  must  include,  not  only  the 
iixth  trumpet,  but  the  ffth  and  seventh  also.  This  is  sufficiently  evident  both  from 
the  date  of  the  f.fth  trumpet,  and  from  the  termination  of  the  seventh  :  for  the  fftb 
trumpet  begins  to  soimd  at  the  very  commencement  of  the  1 260  years,  namely  when 
-the  bottomless  pit  was  opened  in  the  year  606  by  the  fallen  star  Sergius  ;  and  the  seventh 
t-rt'.mpet  brings  us  down,  through  the  different  stages  of  its  first  six  vials,  to  the  end 
of  the  X'ifX)  years.  Since  then  the  little  book  comprehends  the  ivhole  of  the  1260  years, 
it  must  necessarily  commence  %vith  the  sounding  of  the  ffth  trumpet,  and  must  like- 
wise include  the  seventh  trumpet.  Accordingly  we  find,  that  the  seventh  angel,  is 
represented  as  actually  sounding  in  the  little  book  ;  (Rev.  xi.  15.)  though  a  more 
particular  account  of  the  effects  of  his  blast  is  reserved  for  a  djsuact  prophecy  19 
the  large  book.      Rev.  XV.— xix, 

VOL.  II.  9 


10 

ters  run  parallel  to  each  other,  relating  severally,  though 
with  some  variety  of  circumstances,  to  the  same  period 
and  the  same  events  ;  so  as  to  form  jointly  a  complete 
histoiij  of  the  western  Apostacy^  and  of  all  the  principal 
actors  in  it. 

1.  The  first  chapter  of  the  Tittle  book*  gives  an  ac- 
count of  the  treading  of  the  holy  city  under  foot  during 
fortij  two  months  ;  of  the  desolate  prophesifmg  of  the 
icitnesses  during  the  same  period  of  1260  days  ;  of  the 
victor  If  of\the  beast  of  the  bottomless  pit  over  them  dur- 
i?ig  three  days  and  an  half ;  of  their  triumphant  ascent 
ijito  the  symbolical  heaven  ;  and  of  the  earthquake  which 
was  to  overthrow  the  tenth  part  of  the  city.,  and  to  be  the 
last  event  under  the  second  woe  :  and  it  finally  announces 
the  sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet^  which  brings  us 
down  to  the  end  of  the  1260  days  ;  but  announces  it 
without  descending  minutely  to  particularise  its  etfects.-j* 
In  this  chapter.,  (it  is  to  be  observed)  the  beast  of  the 
bottomless  pit  is  barelij  inentioned  :  and  no  intimation 
whatsoever  is  given,  either  what  this  beast  is,  by  whose 
instigation  he  acts,  or  zvhose  minister  he  is  ;  the  prophet 
reserving  these  particulars  for  his  two  succeeding  chap^ 
ters. 

2.  The  second  chapter  of  the  little  book-^  lets  us  into 
the  whole  mystery  of  iniquity,  so  far  as  its  original 
mover  is  concerned.  We  there  learn,  X.h?il  the  1260  years 
persecution  of  the  true  Church  of  Christ  is  the  contri- 
vance of  that  old  serpent,  the  devil ;  who  is  represented 
under  the  image  of  a  dragon  -with  seven  heads  and  ten 
horns,  in  order  to  shew  us  by  the  instrumentality  of  what 
minister  he  was  about  to  slay  the  'witnesses,  and  to  drive 
the  ivoman  into  the  wilderness. 

3.  The  third  chapter  of  the  little  book,^  passes  from 
the  master  to  the  servant  ;  and  shews  us  who  is  that 
minister  of  the  dragon,  that  beast  of  the  bottomless  pit, 
which  had  already  been  represented  as  the  murderer  of 
the  two  witnesses.     It  describes  him  as  having  seven  heads 

*  Rev.  xi. 
f  Its  effects  are   afterwards  detailed  very   circumstantially   under  the  se^en  vials\ 
«nd  in  the  chapters  subsequent  to  that  which  relates  to  the  pouring  out  of  the  -viah: 

\  Rev.  xii.  §  R€v.  sjii. 


11 

and  ten  horns  ;  the  very  heads  and  horns,  which  the 
draoon  induces  him  to  use  against  theivoman.  mentioned 
in  the  preceding  chapter. 

The  third  chapter  further  teaches  us,  by  whose  instigG' 
tion  as  a  second  cause,  the  minister  of  the  dragon^  or  the 
beast  of  the  bottomless  pit^  is  induced  to  take  up  arms 
against  the  woman  and  the  two  witnesses.  His  instigator 
is  another  beast.,  quite  distinct  from  himsef,  though  very 
intimately  connected  with  him  :  a  beast,  which  comes 
up  out  of  the  earth,  or  Roman  empire  ;  which  has  tzco 
horns  hke  a  lamb  ;  which  speaks  as  a  dragon  ;  and 
which  exerciseth  all  the  power  of  the  first  beast  before 
him,  not  in  a  hostile  but  in  a  fiiendly  manner,  for  he 
causeth  the  zvhole  earth  to  worship  his  colleague  and 
supporter  the  first  beast. 

4.  The  fourth  chapter  of  the  little  book*  describes  the 
state  of  the  true  Church  during  the  prevalence  of  the 
western  Apostacy  ;  predicts  the  Reformation  ;  and  di- 
vides some  of  the  most  prominent  events  of  the  seventh 
trumpet,  which  are  detailed  at  large  hereafter  under  the 
seven  vials,  into  two  grand  classes,  the  harvest  and  the 
vintage  of  God's  wrath,  teaching  us  that  the  winepress 
shall  be  trodden  in  a  certain  country  the  space  of  which 
extends  1600  furlongs. 

We  learn  then  from  the  four  chapters  of  the  little 
book,  both  what  the  beast  of  the  bottomless  pit  is,  name- 
ly a  certain  beast  with  seven  heads  and  ten  horns  ;  by 
whose  instigation  he  acts,  namely  by  that  of  a  second 
beast  with  two  horns  ;  and  whose  minister  and  tool  he  is, 
namely  that  of  the  great  red  dragon.  We  moreover 
learn,  that,  making  himself  a  tool  of  the  dragon,  and  act- 
ing bij  the  instigation  of  the  second  beast,  the  seven-head- 
ed and  ten-horned  beast  of  the  sea  and  the  bottomless  pit 
(for  the  beast  of  the  sea  and  the  beast  of  the  bottomless 
pit  are  one  and  the  same  power,^  the  sea  describing  his 
natural  and  the  bottomless  pit  his  spiritual  origin)  should 
wage  a  war  of  \260  years  against  the  woman  and  the 
two  -witnesses  who  have  the  name  of  God  written  in 
their  foreheads  ;    but    that    nevertheless  the  Apostacy 

'  Rev.  xiv.  -f  Compare  Rev.  xiii  1.  with  Rev.  xvji.  3,  8. 


12 

should  rereive  a  great  check  by  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel,*  and  afterwards  should  be  totally  overthrown  in 
the  time  of  God's  vintage,  f 

The  way  being  thus  cleared  by  this  general  statement, 
I  shall  proceed  to  consider  the  cori tents  of  the  little  book 
at  large  in  five  different  sections,  according  as  it  natural- 
ly divides  itself.  1.  Ttie  prophesying  of  the  witnesses  ; 
2.  The  war  of  the  dragon  with  the  woman  ;  3.  The  ten- 
horned  beast  of  the  sea  ;  4.  The  two-horned  beast  of  the 
earth  ;  5.  Ihe  collateral  history  of  the  true  Church,  and 
the  harvest  and  vintage  of  God's  wrath. 

SKCTION    I. 

Concerning  the  prophesying  of  the  txvo  zvitnesses. 

In  the  present  section  I  shall  attempt  to  explain  the 
first  chapter  of  the  little  book,  which  contains  the  his- 
tory of  the  persecution  of  the  two  zvitnesses  by  the  beast 
ofi  the  bottomless  pit. 

"  And  there  was  given  me  a  reed  like  unto  a  rod  : 
and  the  angel  stood,  saying,  Kise,  and  measure  the  tem- 
ple of  God,  and  the  altar,  and  them  that  worship  therein. 
But  the  court,  which  is  without  the  temple,  leave  out, 
and  measure  it  not ;  for  it  is  given  unto  the  Gentiles  ; 
and  the  holy  city  shall  they  tread  under  foot  forty  and 
two  months." 

This  prophecy  commences  with  the  year  606  ;  which 
is  the  first  year  of  the  great  Apostacy,  and  which  syn- 
chronizes with  the  earliest  blast  of  the  first  ivoe-trumpef 
in  the  East,"^  The  temple,  the  altar,  and  they  that  zcor- 
ship  therein,  are  those  few  Christians,  who  m  the  midst 

*  Rev.  xiv.  6.  f  Rev.  xiv  18,  19,  20. 

I  I  may  here  add  to  the  arguments,  by  which  I  have  already  shewn  that  the  year 
606  is  most  probably  the  true  date  of  the  \260  years,  the  following  one.  Unless  this 
year  be  pitched  upon,  we  shall  find  it  impossible  to  make  the  beginning  of  the  Jirst 
ivoe-trumpet  in  the  East  synchronize  with  the  begi.^ning  of  the  same  ivoe-trumpet  in  the 
West.  But  we  hnoiv  that  the  first  ivoe-trumpet  begins  to  sound  in  the  East  in  the  year 
606  :  whence  I  see  not  how  we  are  to  avoid  concluding,  that  it  begins  likewise  to 
sound  in  the  West  in  the  ssme  year.  Accordingly  we  find  this  same  year  to  afford 
Us  the  most  probable  date  of  the  rise  of  the  zvestern  apostaey  and  the  commencement  of  the 
1260  years  ;  for  in  this  year  the  Roman  beast  delivered  the  saints  into  the  hand  of  his 
little  horn.  I  can  scarcely  believe,  that  so  many  coincidences,  all  leading  us  to  the 
^ear  606,  are  pnrdy  accidental 


t3 

of  a  crooked  and  perverse  generation  stood  fast  in  the 
faith  of  Jesus  Christ  :  and  the  court  without  the  temple 
symbolizes  those,  zcho  retahied  indeed  the  name  of  Christ- 
ians, but  had  grossltj  apostatized  from  the  truth.  The 
holif  citif,  which  is  given  to  them  to  tread  under  foot 
and  pollute  with  superstitious  abominations  during  the 
penod  of  fot^t// tzeo  prophetic  months,  a  period  equiva- 
lent to  the  1260  years  of  the  Apostacy,  is  the  visible 
Church  of  Christ*  St.  John  therefore  is  ordered  to 
measure,  or  take  an  account  of,  the  faithful  servants  of 
God,  who  never  ceased,  in  a  greater  or  less  number,  to 
exist  throughout  the  whole  duration  of  the  Apostacy  : 
while  he  is  commanded  to  leave  out,  and  not  to  measure, 
the  outer  court,  as  containing  only  those  nominal  Christ- 
ians, who  in  practice  were  Gentiles,  and  who  were  un- 
worthy the  notice  of  a  Being  of  infinite  purity. j" 

"And  I  will  give  power  unto  my  two  witnesses,and  they 
shall  prophesy  a  thousand  two  hundred  and  three  score 
days  clothed  in  sackcloth.  These  are  the  two  olive  trees,  and 
the  two  candlesticks  standing  before  the  God  of  the  earth. 

*  The  holy  city  here  mentioned  cannot  mean  the  literal  "Jerusalem,  because  the 
treading  of  it  under  foot  is  to  continue  only  IIQQ years,  and  during  the  reign  of 
the  Papal  horn  ;  whereas  tlie  treading  under  foot  of  the  literal  Jerusalem  has  ah-eady 
continued  upwards  of  1700  years,  and  commenced  long  tc/ore  the  reign  of  the  Papal 
horn.  The  prophecy  therefore  of  our  Lord  in  Luke  xxi.  24.  which  relates  to  the 
literal  Jerusalem,  cannot  have  any  connection  with  the  prophecy  of  St.  John  in  Rev. 
xi.  2,  which  relates  to  the  period  of  the  1260  years.  See  the  preceding  2d  Chapter 
of  this  Work. 

f  Measuring  the  servants  of  God  is  equivalent  to  sealing  them.  (See  Rev.  vii.  S.) 
Hence  the  commission  of  the  Saracenic  locusts  extended  only  to  those,  who  had  not 
the  seal  of  God  in  their  foreheads  ;  they  were  not  able  to  approach  to  Piedmont  and 
Savoy,  the  country  of  those  that  ivere  sealed.  The  unmeasured  tenants  of  the  outer 
court,  and  the  unsealed  men  throughout  the  Roman  empire,  are  alike  the  -votaries  of  the 
Apostacy  :  while  they  that  tvere  ?n£astired,  and  they  that  "were  sealed,  are  the  saints  luho 
refused  to  be  partakers  of  its  abominations.  Mr.  Mede  is  perfectly  right  in  his  idea 
of  the  outer  court ;  but  I  cannot  think  with  him  that  the  inner  court  means  the  primi- 
tive Church  previous  to  the  revelation  of  the  man  of  sin,  because  the  whole  allegory 
is  included  within  the  1260  years,  and  consequently  those  symbolized  by  the  inner  court 
and  those  symbolized  by  the  outer  court  must  necessarily  be  contemporary.  They  of  the 
outer  court  indeed  are  the  very  men  who  persecute  the  ivitnesses  of  the  inner  court.  (See 
Comment.  Apoc.  in  loc.)  The  seating  of  the  servants  of  God  takes  place  under  the  sixth 
seal  and  during  the  reign  of  Constantine,  because  the  Apostacy,  considered  individually, 
commenced  about  that  time.  It  separated  the  wheat  from  the  tares,  and  was  pre- 
paratory to  the  subsequent  grand  division  of  the  ivitnesses  from  the  gentiles  of  the  outer 
court.  A  new  race  of  gentiles  began  to  insinuate  themselves  into  the  holy  city  at  the 
time  when  the  servants  of  God  were  sealed,  or  when  the  Apostacy  commenced  individu- 
ally :  but  the  outer  court  was  not  formally  ^/wn  unto  them  by  the  secular  power,  till 
the  saints  were  given  into  the  hand  of  the  little  papal  horn  in  the  year  606,  and  till  the 
Apostacy  became  dominant. 


14 

And,  if  any  man  will  hurt  them,  fire  proceedeth  out  of 
their  mouth,  and  devoureth  their  enemies  :  and,  if  any 
man  will  hurt  them,  he  must  in  this  manner  be  killed. 
These  have  power  to  shut  heaven,  that  it  rain  not  in  the 
days  of  their  prophecy  :  and  have  power  over  waters  to 
turn  them  to  blood,  and  to  smite  the  earth  with  all 
plagues,  as  often  as  they  will." 

It  is  evident,  that  these  iwo  witnesses  are  to  be  contem- 
porary with  the  great  Apostacij,  because  they  are  to  con- 
tinue throughout  its  whole  duration  of  1260  years;* 
and  it  is  equally  evident,  that  they  are  to  be  hostile  to  it, 
because  they  are  represented  as  prophesying  in  sackcloth, 
and  as  being  the  peculiar  objects  of  the  beasfs  fury. 
They  are  moreover  not  to  exist  at  this  time,  or  at  that 
time,  but  from  the  very  beginning  to  the  very  end  of  the 
Apostacy  :  consequently  it  is  manifest,  that  they  cannot 
be  any  two  mere  individuals.  The  question  then  is, 
xiQhat  they  are  ?  Mr.  Galloway  endeavours  to  prove  them 
to  be  the  Old  and  New  Testament.^  In  this  conjecture 
he  follows  Colter,  More,  and  Napier:^  but  he  is  never- 
theless certainly  mistaken  :  for  such  an  opinion  runs  di- 
rectly counter  to  a  very  wholesome  rule,  which  every 
commentator  upon  hieroglyphical  prophecy  ought  par- 
ticularly to  attend  to  :  Having  once  established  the  defi- 
nite meaning  of  a  sijmhol^  never  afterioards  think  yourself 
at  libertif  to  depart  from  that  meaning.^  The  two  zvit- 
nesses  are  expressly  said  by  St.  John  to  be  the  tx(DO  olive 
trees.,  and  the  two  candlesticks.,  standing  before  the  God 
of  the  earth.  But  both  an  olive  tree.,  and  a  candlestick, 
are  equally  symbols  of  a  church.\\  Consequently  the 
two  witnesses  must  be  two  churches  ;  and  therefore  can- 
not be  the  two  Testaments.  Bp.  Newton  thinks,  that  no 
t-wo  particular  men,  or  particular  churches,  are  meant  by 

*   I  speak  of  the  Apostacy  in  its  dominant  state. 

f  Brief  Comment,  p.  45  et  infra.  Mr.  Burton  fancies  the  tivo  zuitnesses  to  be 
Daniel  and  St.  John  ;  but,  as  he  does  not  even  attempt  to  shew  in  what  particulars 
they  answer  to  the  cliaracter  of  the  ivitncsses,  he  leaves  no  room  for  a  regular  con- 
futation.    Essay  on  the  numbers  of  Daniel  and  St.  John,  p.  241,  242,  2461. 

\  See  Pol.  Synop.  in  loc.  Brightman  thinks,  that  they  are  the  Scriptures,  and  tfie 
congregation  of  the  faithful.     Apoc.  Apoc.  Fol.  169. 

§  See  the  beginning  of  the  Preface  to  this  IVori. 

II  See  the  preceding  chapter  upon  symbols. 


15 

them  :  but  only  that  there  should  be  a  few  faithful  set^* 
vants  of  God  in  every  age,  who  should  protest  against 
the  superstitious  corruptions  of  their  times.  His  Lord- 
ship is  perfectly  right  in  the  spirit,  though  not  quite  ac- 
curate in  the  letter,  of  his  interpretation.  There  is  so 
much  precision  in  all  the  numbers  both  of  Daniel  and 
St.  John,  that  we  ought  to  be  veri/  jealous  of  breaking 
down  the  barrier  of  their  /i/e/-«/ acceptation.*  Scripture 
will  ever  be  found  the  most  satisfactory  expositor  of 
Scripture  :  and  such  I  apprehend  to  be  the  case  in  the 
present  instance.  Throughout  the  whole  Apocalypse 
the  idea  of  t/ie  two-fold  Church  of  Christ  is  accurately 
preserved  :  the  Church  before  the  advent  of  our  Lord, 
and  the  Church  after  his  advent  ;  the  Church  founded 
upon  the  Prophets,  and  the  Church  founded  upon  the 
Apostles  ;  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  equally  the  cor- 
ner stone  of  both.  Accordingly  we  find,  in  the  very  be- 
ginning of  the  Revelation,  mention  made  o{  tiventy  four 
elders,  who  are  represented  as  being  in  heaven,  the  sym- 
bol oi  the  universal  Church.  Twelve  of  these,  in  allusion 
to  the  twelve  Jewish  patriarchs,  are  representatives  of 
the  pre-Christian  Church  :  and  the  other  tzoelve,  in  allu- 
sion to  the  twelve  Apostles,  are  representatives  of  the 
post-Christian  Church.  Whence  the  mystical  number 
of  God's  chosen  is  said  to  be  144,000  ;  or  tivelve  multi- 
plied into  twelve,  and  afterwards  again  multiplied  into  a 
thousand,  to  shew  that  the  pious  constitute  an  exceeding 
great  multitude.  Whence  also  the  symbolical  city  qjf 
the  Lamb,  or  the  universal  Church  triumphant,  is  de- 
scribed as  a  perfect  cube  of  12,000  furlonsrs  ;  having 
twelve  gates  upon  which  are  written  the  names  of  the 
twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  and  twelve  foundations  in  which 
are  the  names  of  the  twelve  Apostles  of  the  Lamb.  And 
whence  lastly  the  faithful  are  represented  as  singing  the 
song  not  only  of  the  Lamb,  but  likewise  of  Moses  the 
servant  of  God.  Now,  when  we  recollect,  that  the 
prophet  begins  the  chapter,  wherein  he  treats  o^  the  two 

*  It  was  wisely  observed  by  Abp.  Seeker,  that  «  it  doth  not  appear  that  any  of 
the  numbers  in  Daniel  mean  uncertainty."  His  Grace  might  with  equal  propriety 
have  extended  his  remark  to  St.  John,  with  a  very  few  esceptions  which  explain 
themselves.     See  Rev.  vii,  4.  and  Rev.  xxi.  16, 17. 


16 

witnesses^  with  an  account  of  his  measuring  the  spiritual 
iein/}Ie :  when  we  further  consider,  that  St.  John's  im- 
agery of  the  lico  candlesticks^  and  the  two  olive  trees^  is 
evidei)i1y  taken  from  Zechariah's  vision  of  the  second 
temple;^  an.d  that  he  himself  describes  the  five  ntij  four 
elders  as  being  in  (he  Jiguraiice  heaven^  or  tlie  Church 
general^  in  the  same  manner  as  the  candlesticks  and  the 
olive  frees  were  placed  in  the  temple^  which  is  another 
symbol  of //ie  spiritual  Church  o-e^/^/v// as  contradistin- 
guished from  the  outer  court  ofiimre  nominal  Christians: 
when  the  whole  of  this  is  duly  weighed,  and  when  the 
undoubted  fart  that  St.  John  borrows  this  set  of  hiero- 
glyphics from  the  Je'inish  temple  and  its  furmture  is  ta- 
ken into  the  account  :  1  think  we  cannot  but  come  to 
the  conclusion,  \\\aX.  the  tiventij  Jour  elders^  the  twelve 
gates^  and  the  twelve  foundations  of  the  new  Jerusalem, 
the  two  olive  trees^  the  two  candlesticks^'^  and  the  two  wnt- 
nesses,  all  equally  signify  the  spiritual  members  of  the 
catholic  Churchy  considered  as  one  great  whole^  though 
made  up  of  two  component  parts.  Not  that  any  of  the 
members  of  the  pre-Christian  Church  literally  prophesied 
during  the  X'^dO  ij ears  o^  the  great  Apostacy  :  the  proph- 
et speaks  only  of  men  of  a  like  spirit  with  themselves, 
the  mystical  children  of  the  Church  general  now  for  ever 
united  under  its  illustrious  head,  those  who  are  Israelites 
indeed.  "  Now  to  Abraham  and  his  seed  were  the  prom- 
ises made.  He  saith  not,  and  unto  seeds,  as  of  many  ; 
but  as  of  one,  and  to  thy  seed.,  which  is  Christ — But,  be- 
fore faith  came,  we  were  kept  under  the  law,  shut  up 
unto  the  faith  which  should  afterwards  be  revealed — Ye 
are  all  the  children  of  God  by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus — 
There  is  neither  i^w  nor  Greek,  neither  bond  nor  free, 
there  is  neither  male  nor  female  :  for  ije  are  all  one  in 
Christ  Jesus.  And,  if  ye  be  Christ's,  then  are  ye  Abra- 
ham's seed.,  and  heirs  according  to  the  promise. "+ 

*  Zech.  iv.  2,  3,  9,  11—14, 
f  It  it  evident,  that  the  fiuo  oli'ue  trees  are  the  same  as  the  t-wo  candlestichs^  and  that 
they  are  not  designed  to  symbolizeybwr  different  particulars  ;  because  the  ivitnesses, 
who  are  only  tivo  in  number,  are  said  to  be  typified  not  merely  by  the  the  tivo  olive 
trees,  but  likewise  additionally  by  the  tivo  candlest'uls.  Whence  it  will  follow,  that 
ibe  one  oli-je  tree  is  the  same  in  point  of  signification  as  the  one  candUstiek,  and  the  itbet- 
HS  the  other. 

t  Gal.  iii.  16,  23,  26,  2S,  2£). 


I 


17 

Mr.  Galloway  objects,  that  the  tz0o  witnesses  fannot 
be  those  who  protested  against  the  corruptions  of  Popery 
during  the  1260  years^  because  they  were  to  prophecy 
in  sackcloth  ;  whereas  none  of  the  reformers  ever  pre- 
tended to  the  gift  of  prophecy^  but  contented  them- 
selves with  being  merely  preachers  of  God's  word.  In 
making  this  unguarded  objection,  Mr.  Galloway  seems 
to  have  forgotten,  that  in  the  New  Testament  yoroy:>^^,yy- 
ing  is  not  unfrequently  used  as  a  mere  synonym  of 
preaching  or  expounding.^  The  prophesying  therefore 
of  the  two  zvitnesses  is  nothing  more  than  their  zealous 
avowal  of  the  principles  of  the  Gospel ;  their  shutting 
of  heaven^  so  that  it  rain  not  in  the  days  of  their  proph- 
ecy, is  the  shutting  up  the  temple  or  spiritual  Church,  so 
that  the  dew  of  God^s  -word  and  spirit  ^\\ow\d  not  descend 
upon  the  apostate  inhabitants  of  if /^e  Roman  earth  ;f  and 
their  power  of  smiting  the  earth  with  diverse  plagues 
means  that  all  the  various  plagues,  denounced  in  the  Apoc- 
alypse, blood,  slaughter,  and  desolation,  should,  in  the 
course  of  God^s  just  judgments,  be  the  consequence  of 
men^s  slighting  the  'warning  voice  of  his  two  mystical 
prophets.  Not  that  it  was  their  wish  to  shut  up  heaven, 
or  to  call  down  the  vengeance  of  the  Almighty  upon 
earth  ;  their  desire  was  to  preach  repentance  and  the 
forgiveness  of  sins  :  the  fire  of  God^s  ivrath  would  never 
have  proceeded  out  of  their  mouth  :  they  never  would 
have  had  occasion  to  denounce  his  righteous  indignation 
against  sin  ;  if  they  of  the  Apostacy  would  have  reformed 
themselves,  instead  of  hurting  or  persecuting  the  two 
witnesses.  When  it  is  said  therefore,  that  Me//  have poz0- 
e-r  to  shut  heaven,  to  turn  the  waters  into  blood,  to  smite 

*  See  the  whole  of  1  Corinth,  xiv.  upon  which  Mr.  Cruden  very  justly  remarksj 
'*  This  term  (prophesying)  is  used  by  St.  Paul  for  explaining  Scripture,  preaching,  or 
ipeaking  to  the  Church  in  public."  See  also  1  Corinth,  xi.  4,  5 — 1  Thess.  V.  'iO,  (which 
the  margin  of  the  Bible  refers  to  1  Corinth,  xiv.)  and  Rom.  xii.  6.  The  use  of  the 
word  in  this  sense  probably  originated  from  the  frequent  appeals  made  by  the 
primitive  teachers  to  the  prophets  who  had  prophesied  of  Christ.  See  Acts  ii.  1 4 — 
37.  iii.  18.  iv.  10 — 13,  25 — 28.  vii.  2 — 54.  xxiv.  14.  xxvi.  6 — 27.  and  xxviii.  23.  See 
also  the  grounds  of  our  Lord's  own  discourse  with  the  two  disciples  at  Emmaua. 
Luke  xxiv.  25,  26,  27.  and  his  subseijuent  address  to  the  eleven  and  those  that  were 
with  them.     Ver.  44,  45,  46. 

f  "  Rain,"  says  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  "  if  not  immoderate,  and  de-w,  and  living  ivater, 
are  put  for  the  graces  and  doctrines  of  the  Spirit ;  and  the  d^Jett  of  rain,  for  spiritual 
barrenness."     Obscrv.  on  Dan,  and  Rev.  p.  1 9. 

VOL,   II,  3 


18 

the  earth  with  plagues^  and  to  dart  from  their  mouth  con- 
saming  Jire ;  these  expressions  must  all  be  understood, 
not  in  a  causal^  but  in  a  consequential,  sense  :  for  the 
commission,  given  to  the  tzvo  figurative  prophets,  is,  in 
point  of  its  proper  mode  of  interpretation,  exactly  analo- 
gous to  the  charge  which  God  delivered  to  Isaiah  : 
"  Make  the  heart  of  this  people  fat,  and  make  their  ears 
heavy,  and  shut  their  eyes  ;  lest  they  see  with  their  eyes, 
and  hear  with  their  ears,  and  understand  with  their  heart, 
and  convert,  and  be  healed."*  In  perfect  strictness  of 
speech,  Isaiah  was  no  more  able  to  inflict  the  plague  of 
spiritual  stupidity  ;  than  the  two  prophets  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse were,  that  of  spiritual  barrenness  and  natural  ca- 
lamities. Both  the  passages  must  be  explained  exactly 
upon  the  same  principle  :  the  judgments,  which  these 
prophets  were  severally  impowcred  to  inflict,  were  not 
caused  hy  them  ^^  active  agents,  but  were  the  consequence 
of  their  ministry  being  slighted.  In  this  sense  we  are  au- 
thorised by  inspired  authority  to  interpret  the  charge 
given  to  Isaiah  :f  consequently,  by  a  parity  of  reasoning, 
we  are  at  liberty  to  explain  the  powers,  committed  to 
the  tziDO  apocalyptic  prophets,  in  a  similar  manner.:]: 

It  is  not  unworthy  of  remark,  that  the  two  zmtnesses 
are  described  as  having  only  one  mouth.^  This  circum- 
stance at  once  shews  that  they  are  mijstical,  not  literal, 
characters  ;  and  serves  to  demonstrate  the  propriety  of 
the  foregoing  explanation.  The  pre-Christian  and  the 
post-Christian  Church,  forming  jointly  the  Church  gene- 
ral,  have  but  one  mouth,  testifying  and  declaring  the 
same  simple  road  to  salvation  through  the  alone  sacri- 
fice of  Christ.  In  the  strictly  scriptural  words  of  the 
Anglican  church  already  cited,  "  although  the  ancient 
patriarchs  were  not  named  Christian  men,  yet  was  it  a 
Christian  faith  that  they  had  ;  for  they  looked  for 
all  benefits  of  God  the  Father,  through  the  merits  of 
his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  as  we  do  now.     This  difference  is 

*  Isaiah  vi.  10.  f  See  Matt.  xiii.  15.  and  Acts  xxviii.  27. 

f  It  is  very  justly  remarked  by  Bp.  Newton,  when  commenting  upon  this  very 
passage,  tliat  «  in  Scripture  language  the  prophets  are  often  said  to  do  those  things, 
which  they  declare  ^ixd /urctcll." 

§  Rev.  xf.  5^ 


19 

between  them  and  us,  that  they  looked  when  Christ 
should  come,  and  we  be  in  the  time  when  he  is  come."* 

"  And,  when  they  shall  draw  near  to  the  close  of  their 
testimony,"!*  the  beast,  that  ascendeth  out  of  the  bottom- 
less pit,  shall  make  war  against  them,  and  shall  overcome 
them,  and  kill  them.  And  their  dead  bodies  shall  lie  in 
a  street  of  the  great  city,  which  spiritually  is  called 
Sodom  and  Egypt,  where  also  our  Lord  was  crucified. 
And  they  of  the  people  and  kindreds  and  tongues  and 
nations  shall  see  their  dead  bodies  three  days  and  a  half, 
and  shall  not  suffer  their  dead  bodies  to  be  put  in  graves. 
And  they,  that  dwell  upon  the  earth,  shall  rejoice  over 
them,  and  make  merry,  and  shall  send  gifts  one  to  an- 
other ;  because  these  two  prophets  tormented  them  that 
dwelt  on  the  earth.  And  after  three  days  and  an  half 
the  spirit  of  life  from  God  entered  into  them  ;  and  they 
stood  upon  their  feet :  and  great  fear  fell  upon  them 
which  saw  them.  And  they  heard  a  great  voice  from 
heaven,  saying  unto  them.  Come  up  hither.  And  they 
ascended  up  to  heaven  in  a  cloud  ;  and  their  enemies 
beheld  them." 

Prophecy,  as  it  might  be  naturally  expected,  dwells 
only  upon  great  and  prominent  circumstances  ;  were  it 
otherwise  constructed,  the  whole  world  could  not  con- 
tain the  volumes,  which  it  would  occupy.  We  must 
consider  therefore,  what  circumstance  in  the  history  of 
the  two  witnesses,  which  occurred  before  the  sounding 
of  the  seventh  trumpet;^,  is  of  a  sufficiently  definite  nature 
to  occasion  this  very  peculiar  mention  of  it. 

*  The  same  sound  doctrine  is  set  forth  in  the  article ;  "  The  Old  Testament  is 
not  contrary  to  the  New  :  for  both  in  the  Old  and  New  Testament  everlasting  life 
is  offered  to  mankind  by  Christ,  who  is  the  only  Mediator  between  God  and  man, 
being  both  God  and  man."  Thus  have  the  ttvo  -witnesses  only  one  mouth,  with  which 
they  unanimously  protest  against  the  host  of  mediators  venerated  by  them  of  the 
Apostacy. 

f  Such  is  certainly  the  proper  translation  of  the  Aorist  TiXta-acn.  The  subjunc- 
tive mood  of  the  first  Aorist  generally  bears  a  kind  of  future  signification  :  and  the 
context  amply  shews,  that  such  must  be  its  meaning  in  the  present  instance.  The 
witnesses  were  to  prophesy  during  the  ivhole  1260  years,  which  are  commensurate 
with  the  t-wo  first  -woe-trumpets  and  the  greatest  part  of  the  third.  At  the  time  of  this 
event,  they  were  only  under  ^,?if  jfcowi  -woe-trumpet:  (See  Rev.  xi.  7—12.  and  14, 
15.)  consequently  they  could  not  ^aw^nw/J^^/ their  testimony,  as  our  translation  erro- 
neously represents  them  to  have  done ;  because  they  were  to  continue  prophesying  to 
the  very  end  of  the  1 260  years.  "  Cum  fnituri  sznt  testimonium  suum  (sic  enim  olav 
TEXfo-atri  vertendum,  non  de  prxterito,  cumfnierint.)  Mede's  Comment.  Apoc.  in  loc. 
\  See  Rev.  xi.  7 — i  2,  1 ,5. 


90 

Before  the  prophets  can  be  capable  of  experiencing 
political  deaths  the  only  death  to  which  a  cummunitij  is 
Jiable,  they  must  receive  political  life*  This  never 
was  the  case  previous  to  the  time  q{  the  Reformation  i 
therefore  the  prophets  cannot  have  been  slain  before  the 
Meformation.  Many  years  indeed  antecedent  to  that 
era,  they  had  continued  prophesying  in  sackcloth  ;  many 
years  was  the  sad  narrative  of  their  persecutions  written 
within  and  without  with  lamentations,  and  mourning, 
and  woe  :  as  yet  however  they  were  not  slain,  for  as  yet 
they  were  incapable  of  a  political  death.  But  at  the 
Heformation  they  first  received  in  Germany  political 
life  :-\  consequently  at  the  Reformation  they  first  be- 
came liable  to  political  death.\  To  this  era  1  have  al- 
ready thought  myself  warranted  in  peculiarly  referring 
the  second  persecution  of  the  men  of  understandings  which 
Daniel  describes  as  taking  place  previous  to  the  revela- 
tion oi'  the  atheistical  king ;  and  to  this  era  1  now  think 
myself  equally  warranted  in  looking  for  an  accomplish- 
ment of  the  present  prophecy. 

The  foe,   that  slays  the  zoitnesses,  is  styled   the  beast 
of  the  bottomless  pit :  and  this  beast  will  be  found,  upon 

*  Hence  St.  John  predicts,  in  a  similar  manner,  tie  subversion  of  the  Eastern  empire^ 
under  the  image  of  the  third  part  of  men  being  killed  by  the  Euphratean  horsemen  ;  hav- 
ing previofisly  informed  us,  that  the  Saracenic  locusts  should  not  be  allowed  to  Hit 
the  men  who  had  not  the  seal  of  God  in  their  foreheads,  but  only  to  torment  them, 
because  their  commission  extended  no  further  than  to  harass  the  Roman  empire. 
See  the  preceding  remarks  upon  these  prophecies. 

f  They  were  not  established  as  a  church  in  England  till  the  accession  of  Edward 
the  sixth  in  the  year  1547  ;  at  which  period  their  cause  had  already  been  espoused 
by  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  and  other  German  sovereigns.  These  princes  associated 
themselves  into  what  was  called  the  league  of  Smalcalde,  \n  the  years  15S0,  1531,  1535, 
and  1537  ;  and  in  that  city  first  called  themselves  protestants.  Then  it  was  that 
the  ivitnesses  received  political  life.  "  Mori  ea  notione  dicitur  qui  in  quo  cunque 
statu  constitutus,  sive  Politico  sive  Ecclesiastico,  seu  quovis  alio,  desinit  esse  quod 
fuit ;  unde  et  occidit  qui  tali  morte  quemquam  afficit."  (Mede's  Comment.  Apoc. 
in  myst.  duor.  test.)  This  excellent  definition  of  Mr.  Mede's  shews  the  propriety 
of  the  distinction  which  I  have  made  between  the  death  of  the  third  part  of  men  or  the 
Roman  community,  and  the  death  of  the  Roman  beast.  Death  in  both  cases  signifies  the 
pausing  them  to  cease  to  be  xvhat  they  ivere  before.  Hence  the  death  of  a  community  IS  the 
causing  a  community  to  cease  from  existing  as  a  community  ;  and  the  death  of  a  beast  is 
the  causing  a  beast  or  idolatrous  empire  to  cease  from  existing  as  a  beast   or  idolatrous  empire. 

^  The  allegory,  here  used  by  St.  John,  was  very  familiar  to  the  Hebrew  pro- 
phets. They  frequently  predict  the  restoration  of  the  Israelites  from  their  present  scat- 
tered state,  their  state  of  political  death,  under  the  image  of  a  resurrection  from  the 
dead.  Let  the  reader  peruse  Ezekiel  xxxvii,  and  he  will  acquire  a  very  clear  con- 
ception of  the  principle  on  which  the  apocalyptic  prediction,  relative  to  the  deat% 
and  revival  of  ths  tivo  -witnesses,  is  founded. 


21 

examination,  to  be  the  first  beast  of  tlie  Apocalypse,  or 
the  beast  with  seven  heads  and  ten  horns*  In  short,  as 
it  shall  be  fully  shewn  hereafter,  he  is  the  same  as  Dan- 
iel's fourtli  beast^  or  the  Roman  Empire  :  and  he  slays 
the  zi'itnesses  by  the  instrumentality  of  his  last  head.\ 
Before  we  can  understand  therefore  the  import  of  the 
prediction  relative  to  the  death  of  the  witnesses^  which 
is  to  take  place  towards  the  close  oi  the  1260  ijears^  and 
imder  the  secotid  woe-trumpet,  we  must  learn  ivhatform 
of  Ro7nan  government  is  intended  by  the  last  head  of 
the  beast.  This  matter  however  must  be  reserved  for 
future  discussion,  when  the  whole  character  o^  the  beast 
is  considered  at  large.  For  the  present  then,  in  order 
that  the  thread  of  the  prophecy  relative  to  the  xmtnesses 
may  be  preserved  unbroken,  I  must  be  allowed  to  as- 
sume, that  this  last  head  is  not  the  Papacy,  as  Mr.  Mede 
and  Bp.  Newton  suppose,  but  the  line  of  the  Gothic 
Emperors  of  the  West ;  the  first  of  whom  was  Charle- 
magne, and  whose  representative,  at  the  time  of  the 
Reformation  was  Charles  the  fifth. 

Now,  upon  consulting  history,  we  shall  find,  that  the 
witnesses  first  received  political  life  in  the  years  1530, 
1531,  1535,  and  1537,  by  the  formal  association  of  the 
protestant  German  princes  in  the  league  of  Smalcalde  : 
and  that  shortly  afterwards  the  Roman  beast  under  his 
last  head,  and  at  the  instigation  of  his  colleague  the  two 
horned  ecclesiastical  beas/,^  began  to  make  open  war  up- 
on them  with  a  view  to  crush  the  Reformation  in  the 
bud.     Infinite  Wisdom  determined  to  try,  "  the  patience 

*  Compare  Rev.  xi.  7.  with  Rev.  xiii.  1.  and  xvii.  7,  8. 

f  Or  to  speak  more  accurately  /jh  septimo-oda-ue  head.  "  The  seven  heads  are 
seven  kings  The  beast,  that  was,  and  is  not  even  he  is  the  eighth,  and  is  of  the 
seven."  (Rev.  xvii.  9,  10,11.)  Thus  it  appears,  that  St.  John  identifies  even  ;,5e 
ivhole  least  with  his  last  head,  on  account  of  the  vast  power  which  this  last  head  was 
destined  at  its  first  rise  to  possess  :  consequently,  when  he  asserts,  that  the  beast 
should  make  war  upon  the  ivitnesses,  since  the  chronology  of  the  prophecy  shews 
that  the  beast  should  do  this  under  his  last  head,  and  since  St.  John  identifies  the 
least  with  his  last  head,  it  is  manifest  that  this  war  was  to  be  undertaken  by  the  last 
head  of  the  beast.  The  same  remark  applies  to  the  last  war  of  the  beast,  the  false  pro- 
phet, and  the  tings  of  the  earth,  against  the  Lamb.  The  beast  here,  as  in  the  former 
instance,  means  the  last  head  of  the  beast ;  and  the  kings  of  the  earth  or  Roman  empire, 
those  sovereigns  who  Are  in  communion  vnth  the  false  prophet.  This  subject  will  be 
fully  discussed  hereafter. 

4  See  Rev,  siii.  11. 


22 

and  faith  of  the  saints,"  by  making  him  for  a  short  sea- 
son completely  successful  in  his  projects.  On  the  94^th* 
of  April  1547,  he  totally  routed  the  protestants  in  the 
battle  of  Mulburg  :  in  consequence  of  which  defeat 
their  two  great  champions,  who  had  given  them  political 
life,  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  and  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse, 
were  compelled  to  submit  to  the  Emperor  on  terms  of 
absolute  discretion. 

The  prophets  were  now  politically  dead  ;  but  they 
were  not  long  to  continue  so:  whence  it  is  said,  that 
they  lay  unhuried.  The  place,  where  their  dead  bodies 
were  thus  exposed,  was  a  street  of  the  great  citij^  "  spir- 
itually called  Sodom  and  Egypt,  where  also  our  Lord 
was  crucified."  The  excellent  Bp.  Newton,  and  the 
learned  Mi*.  Mann  of  the  Charter  House  whom  he  cites, 
needlessly  perplex  themselves  with  elaborately  shewing, 
how  the  city  of  Rome  may  be  said  to  be  the  city  i(Dhere 
t>ur  Lord  was  crucified :  whence  they  conclude,  that, 
whenever  this  prophecy  is  accomplished,  the  dead  bo- 
dies of  the  prophets  will  lie  unburied  in  some  literal 
street  of  the  literal  great  city  ;  "  some  conspicuous 
place  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Rome,"  as  the  Bishop 
expresses  himself.  The  great  city  however,  the  mystic 
BabyloUy  which  throughout  the  Apocalypse  is  repre- 
sented in  constant  and  direct  opposition  to  the  holy  city, 
or  the  Church,  is  certainly  not  the  city,  but  the  empire 
of  Rome  .-f  whence  a  street  of  this  great  city  is«  king' 
dom  or  province  of  the  empire,  considered  as  a  whole  ; 
and  a  tenth  part  of  the  city,  as  mentioned  in  the  thir- 
teenth verse  of  the  present  chapter,  is  not  a  tenth  part 
of  the  literal  city  of  Rome,  but  a  tenth  part  of  the  Ro- 
man empire,  and  consequently  is  precisely  equivalent  to 
one  of  the  ten  horns  or  kingdoms  of  the  beast.  This 
being  the  case,  there  is  no  need  to  seek  for  a  spiritual 
sense,  in  which  our  Lord  may  be  said  16  have  been 
crucified  in  the  great  city :  he  literally  suflfered  within 
its  precincts  ;  for  he  was  put  to  death  in   Palestine,  at 

*  Brlghtman  says,  the  21d  of  April. 

f   The  temporal  Babylon   is  tbc  temporal  empire  ef  Rome  ;  the  spiritual  Babylon   is  the 
ipiritual  empire  of  tbe  Roman  Pontiff. 


23 

that  time  a  province  of  the  Roman  empire*     This  ob- 
vious exposition  will  shew  the  great  accuracy   of  the 

*  "  Urbs  magna  1 .  Sodoma  ;  2.  -Sgyptas.  Hinc  discimus  urkim  magnam  ad  totam 
besti<t  rcgnum  extendi,  nam  ^gyptus  non  civitas  erat,  sed  regnum.  3.  Interfectrix 
Christi.  Hinc  constat  Romam  hoc  loco  non  inteUigi.  Christus  autem  in  Romana 
■arte  crucillXUS  dicitur,  i.  e.  in  ejus  Jinibus  et  imperio  ;  ill  urbij  flatea,  h.  e.  intra  ditioitem 
Romanam,  sive  in  pramnda  ipsius."      Pol.  Synop.  in  loc. 

"  H«ec  urbs  magna  est  tota  ilia  ditio  cujus  est  Roma  metropolis  :  quo  sensu  decima  part 
urbis  cadit,  infra  ver.  13.  Platea  est  pars  aliqua  Romana  ditionis,  iu  qua  spectaculum 
hoc  visendum  exhibetur,  cujus  gaudium  se  difFundit  per  totum  imperium.  Urbs 
autem  ipsa  magna  una  cum  mdrcpoli  sua  in  reliquo  versu  describitur,  idque  duobus 
disertis  nominibus,  et  adjuncta  simul  insigni  nota,  nequis  in  orbe  forsan  erraret 
—  Primum  nomen  est  Sodoma — Secundum  nomen  est  ^gyptus,  non  urbs  aliqua, 
qualis  Sodoma,  sed  integra  regio  et  pro^jincia.  Unde  hoc  nomen  non  est  proprium 
ipsius  metropolis,  sed  totius  ejus  ditionis  COmmune."      Apoc.  Apoc.  FoL  174,  175. 

"  Tbe  great  city  is  that  city  ivhich  reigneth  o'ver  the  kings  of  the  earth,  or  Rome,  the  empress 
of  the  world.  Streets  vf  the  great  city  are  its  public  places  throughout  its  dominion  ;  for 
tie  great  city  is  not  consider«l  so  much  in  its  buildings,  as  a  seat  of  empire.  It  is 
Rome  and  the  Roman  empire,  says  the  Bp.  of  Meaux  ;  and,  taking  the  great  city  for 
Rome  and  its  empire,  he  adds,  //  is  literally  true,  that  Jesus  Christ  ivas  crucified  there,  even. 
by  the  Roman  poiuer.  And  it  is  moreover  true,  that  the  same  Rome,  which  cruci- 
fied Christ  in  person,  crucified  him  also  every  day  in  his  members.  The  general 
meaning  of  tliis  passage  is  well  expressed  by  Mr.  Daubuz  :  The  dead  bodies  cf  the 
loiinesses  shall  lie  throughout  tbe  extent,  in  tbe  most  conspicuous  places,  or  the  chief  and  pritf 
cipal  parts,  cf  tfje  ArJichristian  jurisdiction."  (Lowman's  Paraph,  in  loc.)  Had  Mr. 
Daubuz  said  singularly  a  street  or  a  conspicuous  place,  as  the  Apostle  does,  instead 
af  expressing  himself  plurally,  I  should  have  had  nothing  to  object. 

''  In  ibe  street  of  tbe  great  city,  i.  e.  in  Bohemia,  one  street  of  tbe  papal  dominions.  Or 
ile  great  city  Rome,  in  a  large  sense."  (Fleming's  Apoc.  Key,  p.  41.)  I  do  not  think 
Bohemia  to  be  the  street  intended  ;  but  Mr.  Fleming's  mode  of  interpretation  is  the 
same  as  my  own. 

"  It  is  probable  the  zvhde  Roman  empire  may  be  here  represented,  as  one  idolatrous 
and  impure  city  ;  as  elsewhere  tbe  Church  (f  Christ  is  represented  by  one  pure  holy  and 
glorious  city."  (Doddridge's  Paraph,  in  loc.)  This  argument  from  analogy  is  am 
excellent  one. 

"  It  is  a  truth,  which  must  be  held  as  certain,  being  one  of  the  kevs  of  the  Rev- 
elation, that  the  city,  the  great  city,  signifies  in  this  book,  not  Rome  alone,  but  Rome  in 
conjunction  ivitb  its  empire  :  the  name  of  this  great  city  is  Babylon — This  being  sup- 
posed and  proved,  that  the  city  is  tbe  zuhcle  Babylonish  and  Antichristian  empire,  it  must 
be  remembered  that  this  empire  of  Antichrist  is  made  up  of  ten  iingdcms  and  of  ten 
lings,  who  must  give  their  power  to  the  beast.  A  tenth  part  of  the  city  fell ;  that  is 
one  of  these  ten  kingdoms  which  make  Up  tbe  great  city,  the  Bab\lonisb  empire,  shall  for- 
sake it — Now  what  is  this  tenth  part  of  the  city  which  shall  fall  ?  In  my  opinion,  we 
cannot  doubt  that  it  is  France--  The  kings,  who  yet  remain  under  the  empire  of  Rome, 
must  break  with  her,  leave  her  solitary  and  desolate.  But  who  must  begin  this 
last  revolt  .''  It  is  most  probable  that  France  shall—  Seeing  the  tenth  part  of  tbe  city, 
which  must  fail,  is  France,  this  gives  me  some  hopes  that  the  death  of  the  tiuo  ivitnesses 
hath  a  particular  relation  to  this  kingdom.  It  is  the  street  or  place  of  this  city  ;  that 
is,  the  most  conspicuous  and  eminent  part  of  it."  (Jurieu's  Accomp.  of  the  Script.  Proph. 
Part  II.  p.  2S1 — 267.)  The  reader  will  perceive  the  points  v/liereiu  I  difFer  from 
M.  Jurieu  :  the  passage  is  cited  simply  to  shew  what  he  understood  by  the  great  city. 

"  Ci-vitatem  illam  magnam,  qua  regnum  gerit  in  reges  terras,  non  tam  urbem  quam- 
fiam  moc-iibus  cinctam  (quanquam  a  tah,  ceu  acropoU  quadam,  originem  ducere 
potest),  quam  multitudinem  sociatam  per  caput  aut  capita,  utentem  potestate  imperandi, 
tanquam  jure  metropoleos  ostendimus.  Propheta  metaphoras  et  a:nigiriata  amant. 
Ita  ci'vita:  est  quasi  civitas  ;  forum,  quasi  forum.  Ita  Apoc.  X.  S.  Ci'v'ttas  magna,  ubi 
Christus  cruciJjxus  est  Romar-am  ditioiicm  notat."  Heidegger.  Myst.  Eab.  Mag.  Tom. 
Lp.  219. 


f4 

prophecy  now  under  consideration.  The  two  myi- 
tic  prophets  were  not,  at  the  precise  time  alluded  to  by 
St.  John,  to  lie  dead  and  unburied  throughout //a^  whole 
of  the  great  city  ;  but  only,  as  he  expressly  informs  us 
in  one  particular  street  or  region  oj  it*  Now,  since 
their  persecutor  upon  this  occasion  was  to  be  the  heust 
under  his  last  head.,  the  street  of  the  citij.,  where  they 
were  to  lie  unburied,  must  evidently  be  that  region  of 
the  empire  which  should  be  subject  to  the  more  imme- 
diate jurisdiction  of  the  last  head.  Accordingly  in  the 
verif  ijear  1J47,  when  the  prophets  w eve  political lij  slain 
in  Germanij.,  the  fis^urative  street  under  the  special  con- 
trol of  the  last  head  ;\  they  first  obtained  ^o/zV/ca/ /^/f? 
in  another  street  of  the  great  citij.,  where  the  last  head 
had  no  authority,  by  the  accession  of  Edward  the  sixth 
to  the  throne  of  England. 

St.  John  informs  us,  that  their  dead  bodies  were  to  lie 
unburied  in  this  street  of  the  citij  precisely  three  days 
and  a  half;  that  is,  three  natural  years  and  a  half: 
when  they  should  suddenly  come  to  life  again,  stand 
firuily  upon  their  feet,  and  ascend  triumphantly  to  heav- 
en, in  spite  of  the  machinations  of  their  enemies. 

The  tioo  prophets.,  as  we  have  seen,  were  slain  by  the 
heast  in  the  battle  of  Mulburg,  on  the  ^\th  of  April 
1547.  By  this  decisive  victory  the  cause  of  the  refor- 
mation seemed  irretrievably  ruined  in  Germatiij^  the 
street  of  the  great  city  zchere  their  dead  bodies  lay  unbu' 
ried  :  the  mass  was  restored  ;  protestantism  was  in  a 
manner  suppressed  :  and  they  that  dwelt  upon  the  Ro- 
man earth.,  the  papists  of  the  various  tongues  and  nations 
into  which  the  great  city  had  been  divided  by  the  incur- 
sions of  the  Goths,  rejoiced  over  the  ti<Do  -prophets  that 
tormented  them  by  their  troublesome  admonitions  ;  and 
made  merry  ;  and  sent  gifts  one  to  another.  But  this 
joy  was  of  no  very  long  continuance.  The  sure  word  of 
prophecy  had  declared,  that  it  should  last  only  three 
years  and  a  half  Accordingly  the  reformers  again  stood  .•' 
upon  their  feet  at  Magdeburg  in  the  October  of  the  year 

'    In  una  platearum.     Pol.  Synop.  in  loc. 

f  It  is  worthy  of  observation,  that  Spain  was  not  subject  to  Charles  V.  as  thslgst^ 
k^iid,  but  as  ouf  of  ths  tin  i)0/:}s,  of  tl.;  bfu.t. 


25 

1560  ;*  and  in  the  December  of  the  same  year  defeated 
the  Duke  of  Mecklenburg,  and  took  him  prisoner. 
Great  fear  now  fell  upon  all  that  saw  them  ;  but  the 
time  was  not  yet  arrived,  when  they  were  finally  to  as- 
cend into  the  sifmhollcal  heaven^  in  the  very  sight  of  their 
enemies.  This  was  at  length  accomplished  by  the  peace 
ratified  at  Passau  in  1552,  and  confirmed  at  Augsburg 
in  1555;  by  which  the  protestants  were  allowed  to  en- 
joy the  free  exercise  of  their  religion. -j-  Then  it  was, 
that  the  two  prophets  ascended  into  heaven,  or,  in  other 
words,  became  an  acknowledged  church.  Hitherto,  al- 
though possessing  political  tife^  they  only  stood  upon 
their  feet  on  the  earth,  surrounded  and  assailed  by  their 
imperial  and  papal  enemies  :  but  now  they  triumphantly 
ascended  into  heaven,  and  firmly  established  themselves 
in  direct  opposition  to  their  enemies  who  beheld  them, 
the  first  beast  and  his  instigator  the  second  beast. 

Thus  it  appears,  that  an  accurate  comparison  of  proph- 
ecy with  history  has  shewn  us  both  the  time  when,  and 
the  place  where,  these  remarkable  events  were  to  take 
place.  It  was  necessary  that  the  tzoo  prophets  should 
receive  political  life  in  order  to  be  capable  o{ political 
death.  This  they  first  did  throughout  the  whole  Ro- 
man empire,  in  Germany.  It  was  further  necessary,  in 
order  to  the  exact  accomplishment  of  the  prediction, 
that  they  should  be  slain  in  a  street  of  the  great  citij  pe- 
culiarly under  the  control  of  the  last  head  of  the  beast. 

This  street  is  Germany  likewise.  To  Germany  there- 
fore we  must  look,  and  to  no  other  street  of  the  city,  for 
the  completion  of  the  prophecy.  Accordingly  upon 
looking  there  we  have  found,  that,  as  the  prophets  first 
received  political  life  in  Germany,  so  they  first  experi- 
enced political  death  there  :  that  this  political  death  was 
inflicted  upon  them  by  the  very  agent  pointed  out  by  St. 
John,  the  beast  under  his  last  head  :  that  the  prophets 
resumed  the  functions  of  political  life  in  the  autumn  of 

*  "  Hoc  suadet  oppositlonis  ratio,  ut  talis  sit  ctedes,  qilalis  resui-rectio.  Resurrec- 
fio  autem  hac  non  est  proprie  dicta,  qualis  nulla  futura  est  ante  adventum  Christi, 
sed  analogica  et  politica,  qua  ad  honorem  rerumque  regimen  suscitabuntur.  In  stylo 
sacro  Fh'ire  subinde  est  Esse,  et  Mori  est  Non  esse."  Med.  et  Mor.  apud  Pel.  Synep. 
in  loc. 

f  See  Brightman's  Apoc.  ApQC,  Fol.  176,  177,  178, 
VOL.    II.  4 


26 

1^50,  exactly  three  years  and  a  halfixoxa  the  spring  of 
1547  when  they  were  slain  ;  and  now,  once  more  stand- 
ing upon  their  feet,  routed  the  Duke  of  Mecklenburg  in 
the  December  immediately  following  :  and  lastly  that 
they  ascended  into  the  ecclesiastical  heaven^  after  they 
had  stood  on  their  feet  upon  the  earthy  and  after  great 
fear  had  fallen  upon  their  enemies,  in  the  year  1552  ; 
when,  by  the  treaty  of  Passau,  the  emperor  was  compell- 
ed to  allow  them  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion,  and 
to  readmit  them  into  the  imperial  chamber,  from  which 
they  had  been  excluded  ever  since  the  victory  of  Mul- 
burg. 

All  the  interpretations,  which  have  been  given  of  this 
prophecy,  except  the  present,  appear  to  have  failed, 
from  the  paying  too  exclusive  an  attention  to  the  allot- 
ted period  of  three  days  and  a  half ;  and  from  not  tak- 
ing into  the  account  those  other  parts  of  the  predic- 
tion, which  point  out  both  the  time  when^  the  jilace  where^ 
and  the  imperial  head  under  iMch^  it  was  to  receive  its 
completion.  Several  of  these  interpretations  are  men- 
tioned by  Bp.  Newton — The  prophecy  in  question  has 
been  applied  for  instance  to  the  council  of  Coyistance^ 
which  sat  about  three  ifcars  and  a  half  enacted  many 
laws  against  pretended  heretics,  and  condemned  to  the 
flames  John  Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague.  But  these 
two  martyrs  were  only  individuals  :  they  cannot  with  any 
propriety  be  termed  tzoo  candlesticks^  or  tzvo  churches  : 
they  did  not  prophesy  1260  years  :  they  were  inca- 
pable of  revivification,  for  it  is  a  mere  evasion  of  the 
plain  words  of  St.  John  to  say,  that  they  revived  in  their 
followers  :  consequently  they  cannot  be  the  tvDO  apoca- 
lyptic prophets — It  has  also  been  applied  to  the  French 
massacre  of  the  protestants  on  the  eve  of  St.  Bartholemexi) 
1572,  and  the  treaty  of  Henry  the  third  with  the  Hu- 
guenots concluded  Maij  the  \^th  1576  ;  whereby  all  the 
protestants,  about  three  years  and  a  half  after  the  mas- 
sacre, were  admitted  to  the  free  and  open  exercise  of 
their  religion.  But  this  exposition  will  in  no  respect  ac- 
cord with  the  prophecy,  except  in  the  coincidence  of 
the  three  years  and  a  half:  for  the  protestants  never 
did  more  than  preach  in  sackcloth  throughout  France; 


27 

not  being  able  to  obtain  political  life  in  that  country  ; 
and,  even  if  they  had  obtained  political  life  there,  as 
they  did  in  England^  still  the  war  would  have  been  made 
upon  them,  not  hij  the  beast,  as  St.  John  assures  us 
should  be  the  case,  but  only  bij  one  of  his  ten  horns  or 
the  French  sovereign — It  has  likewise  been  applied  by 
Jurieu  to  the  persecution  of  the  French  protestanfs  after 
the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantz.  But  this  pious 
author's  exposition  is  not  only  liable  to  the  same  objec- 
tions as  the  preceding  one,  but  has  since  shared  the  fate 
of  most  human  prophecies  founded  upon  a  divine  proph- 
ecy. He  ventured  to  foretell,  that  that  should  be  the 
last  persecution  of  the  Church  ;  that  the  zi,^itnesses  should 
lie  dead  three  years  and  a  ha  f  from  the  year  l685,  when 
the  edict  was  revoked  ;  that  the  Reformation  should 
then  be  established  by  royal  authority  throughout  the 
kingdom  ;  and  that  the  whole  country  should  renounce 
Popery,  and  embrace  Protestantism.  Events  have  pre- 
cluded the  necessity  of  any  other  confutation* — It  has 

*  This  notion  of  Jurieu's  has,  with  some  variations,  been  recently  revived  by  Mr. 
Bicheno.  He  asserts,  that  the  tivo  zuitnesses  represent  the  advocates  for  religious  truth  and 
civil  liberty  ;  that  the  Beast,  which  slays  them,  is  the  sesond  apocalyptic  beast  ;  that  that 
second  beast  is  the  French  monarchy  from  the  time  of  Louis  XIV  ,  that  the  ivitnesses  were 
slain  in  the  year  1685  by  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantz  ;  that  the  three  days  and 
a  half,  during  which  they  lay  dead,  are  what  he  styles  three  lunar  days  and  a  half,  in 
Other  words,  three  prophetit  months  and  a  half  or  105  natural  years  ;  and  that  at  the  end 
of  these  \Q)5 years  they  revived  and  stood  upon  their  feet  by  means  oithe  French  rev- 
olution in  the  year  1789. 

I  think  him  quite  mistaken,  for  the  following  reasons — 1.  The  ivitnesses,  upon  the 
principles  of  symbolical  language,  must  be  tivo  churches :  the  advocates  for  religious 
truth  and  civil  liberty  are  not  tiuo  churches — 2.  The  ivitnesses  plainly  represent  a  body 
of  men  eminent  for  Christian  piety  ;  and,  as  their  death  means  their  political  extinction,  SO 
their  resurrection  means  their  political  revival.  Thus  Ezekiel  represents  the  restoration 
of  the  house  of  Israel  to  their  ancient  political  existence  among  the  nations,  Under  the  similar 
imagery  of  a  resurrection  of  dry  bones.  (Ezek.  xxxvii.)  How  then  can  the  pious  ivitnesses 
be  said  to  be  raised  up  again  to  political  life  by  an  event,  which  threw  the  reins  of 
the  French  government  into  the  hands  of  a  set  of  the  vilest  and  most  unprincipled  mis- 
creants that  ever  disgraced  any  age  or  country  ?  According  to  the  prophet,  the  self- 
same body  of  men,  ijiat  were  pohtically  slain,  were  politically  to  revive.  Mr. 
Bicheno  surely  cannot  in  sober  seriousness  afHrm,  that  the  martyrs  of  the  revocation  of 
the  edict  of  Nantz  revived  in  the  persons  of  those  blessed  advocates  for  religious 
truth  and  civil  liberty,  the  demagogues  of  the  infidel  republic — 3.  By  asserting  that  the 
three  days  and  a  half  are  so  many  lunar  days  or  months  of  years,  he  violates  both  the 
general  analogy  of  prophetic  computation,  and  in  a  yet  more  striking  manner  the 
particular  analogy  of  that  used  in  the  present  prediction.  It  is  first  said,  that  the 
w;V«f/jfj  are  to  prophecy  1260  (/ajj,  and  afterwards  it  is  said  that  they  are  to  lie 
dead  three  days  and  a  half.  Now  we  can  scarcely  suppose,  that  St.  John  uses  two 
entirely  different  modes  of  computation  in  the  same  prophecy  ;  for,  in  fact,  if  he 
did,  there  could  be  no  certainty  in  any  numerical  prediction  :  it  must  be  left  en- 
tirely to  the  arbitrary  decision  of  a  commejitator  to  say  whether  a  prophetic  day 


)fdS. 


lastly  been  applied  by  Bp.  Lloyd  and  Mr.  Whiston  to 
the  persecution  of  the  Ficdmontese  protestants^  which 
commenced  at  the  latter  end  oi  the  year  1686,  and  ter- 
minated in  June  1690.  But  here  a^^ain  the  very  same 
objections  occur  :  the  prophets  never  had  political  life 
in  Piedmont ;  and  the  persecution  was  carried  on  against 
them  by  their  sovereign  the  Duke  of  Savoi/,  not  by  the 
beast  under  his  last  head. 

Bp.  Newton,  like  Jurieu,  thinks,  that  the  war  of  the 
beast  against  the  tzvo  witnesses  is  to  be  the  last  persecu- 
tion of  the  Church.  Were  this.opinion  well  founded, 
it  would  alone  completely  overthrow  my  application  of 
the  |)rophecy  to  the  history  of  the  league  of  Smalcalde  ; 
because  both  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantz,  and 
the  persecution  of  the  Fiedmontese,  were  posterior  to  the 
protestant  ii)ar  in  Germany.  But  in  truth  no  such  thing 
is  even  hinted  at  by  St.  John:  indeed,  if  it  were,  he 
■would  contradict  himself  He  begins  with  informins: 
US,  that  the  witnesses  should  prophesy  the  zcho/e  of  the 
1260  years,  clothed  in  sackcloth.  He  next  predicts 
their  war  with  the  beast.  And  he  lastly  notes  the  sound- 
ing of  the  seventh  trumpet.  It  is  plain  therefore,  that 
their  war  xoith  the  beast  was  to  take  place  before  the 
sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet :  yet,  since  the  greatest 

means  a  natural  year,  or  a  7nnr?f!j  of  natural  years ;  in  Other  words,  vvhetlier  it  means 
one  yuar  Or  '2>Q)  years.  RTr.  Bicheno  himself  allows  however,  that  the  1260  days  are 
1260  years.  If  then //:it'  XlbO  days,  during  which  the  -ji'/V/ifij-fj  prophesy  be  1260 
■natural  years ;  we  must,  I  think,  necessarily  conclude,  unless  we  make  St.  John 
guilty  of  a  most  singular  inconsistency,  that  the  three  days  and  a  half,  during  which 
they  lie  dead,  are  three  natural  years  and  a  half  likewise.  All  that  Mr.  Bicheno  says, 
respecting  what  he  terms  the  decorum  of  symbols,  seems  to  me  a  mere  gratuitous 
assumption.  Had  the  apostle  meant  to  intimate,  that  the  lurtnesses  should  continue 
in  a  state  of  political  death  during  105  years,  I  can  discover  no  symbolical  impro- 
priety in  his  saying  that  their  dead  bodies  should  lie  unburicd  105  days.  Ezekiel,  WC 
Jknow,  represents  the  long  political  death  of  the  house  of  Israel  under  the  imagery  of 
dead  bodies  lyi'ig  so  long  unburicd  that  nothing  remained  of  them  but  dry  bones  :  why 
then  should  Mr.  Bicheno  think  it  so  grievous  an  impropriety,  that  the  apostle 
should  have  said,  that  the  dead  bodies  of  the  ivitnesses  lay  unburicd  105  days,  if  he  had 
intended  105  years?  The  truth  is,  that  he  meant  to  express,  not  105  years,  but 
simply  three  years  and  a  half —4.  Jjnt,  even  li  wont  of  these  objections  existed,  still 
his  scheme  would  not  liold  good,  even  upon  his  own  principles.  Let  the  second 
apocalyptic  Least  be  what  it  mav,  it  is  not  that  beast  which  slays  the  'witnesses,  as  Mr. 
Bicheno  supposes,  but  the  first  or  ten-homed  beast.  The  reader  will  find  this  position 
amply  proved  in  the  course  of  a  few  pages,  when  1  consider  Mr.  Galloway's  hy- 
pothesis, who  makes  the  very  same  mistake  as  Mr.  Bicheno  in  fancying  that  the 
■witnesses  zre  %\3xnhy  the  second  apocalyptic  ^.-aj/,,  though  he  supposes /Zia?  beast  to  be 
republican  France.  In  truth,  the  beast  has  just  as  little  relation  to  France  under  the  out 
■go-vcrnwenty  as  to  France  under  the  ffiker.     Signs  of  the  times.     Part  1.  p.  17 — 37. 


^9 

part  of  the  seventh  trumpet  synchronizes  with  the  last  pe- 
riod of  the  1260  years,  some  of  the  witnesses,  long  after 
the  war  of  their  German  brethren  with  the  beast,  had 
still  to  continue  prophesying  in  sackcloth,  or  in  a  state 
of  persecution,  during  the  greatest  part  of  the  time  that 
the  sezenth  trumpet  was  sounding ;  that  is  to  say,  during 
the  pouring  out  oiilsfrst  six  vuils  :  whence  it  is  man- 
ifest, that  the  war  of  the  beast  cannot  be  the  last  perse- 
cution ;  because,  if  it  were,  the  ii-ituesses  would  cease  to 
prophesy  in  sackcloth,  even  before  the  sounding  oi  the 
seventh  trumpet,  and  consequently  would  not  continue 
to  prophesy  in  sackcloth  during  the  whole  space  of  the 
1260  i/ears.  The  fact  is,  the  witnesses  were  to  be  slain 
and  to  lie  exposed  only  in  one  particular  street  of  the 
city,  not  in  every  street  of  it.  In  this  single  street  the 
whole  scene  of  their  war  with  the  beast  is  laid  :  there 
they  are  slain  ;  there  they  revive  ;  and  there  they  ascend 
to  heaven.  It  will  follow  therefore,  that  the  establish- 
ment of  protestantism  in  Germany,  the  cradle  of  the  ref- 
ormation, does  not  exempt  other  protestants  from  still 
continuing  in  a  persecuted  state  during  the  whole  of  the 
1260  years.  The  war  with  the  beast  is  2i  particular,  not 
?L  general,  persecution:  and  the  context  of  the  whole 
propi'ecy  amply  shews,  that  it  was  not  to  be  the  last  par- 
ticular persecution,  though  it  might  be  the  last  in  pro- 
testant  Germany.* 

I  am  only  aware  o^two  objections,  which  can  be  made  to 
my  application  of  this  prediction  to  the  Smalcaldic  league. 

1.  The  first  objection  is,  why  this  persecution  should 
be  particularly  noticed  more  than  many  others  of  at  least 
equal,  if  not  greater,  magnitude  and  importance.  I  an- 
swer, that,  independent  of  its  undoubted  importance,  it 
is  a  perfect  unique  in  the  history  of  the  1260  years.  The 
French  and  Bohemian  protestants  have  been  stimulated 
to  rebellion  by  the  persecutions  of  their  rulers  ;  the  Wal- 
denses  have  been  cruelly  harassed  formerly  ;  and  the 
Savoyards  have  been   no  less  cruelly   treated  in  more 

"  It  is  prcLalh,  that,  although  there  may  not  be  precisely  another  persecution  of 
protestantism  tliere  will  be  a  -^•ar  undertaken  partly  at  least  for  the  express  purpose 
(jf  utterly  crushing  it.  I  have  already  more  than  once  hinted  at  this  koly  ivar  : 
I  shall  hereafter  state  at  large  what  may  be  collected  from  prophecy  upon  the 
ciibicrt. 


30 

modern  times  :  but  in  all  these  events  there  are  no  suf- 
ficient marks  of  discrimination  ;  they  are  spoken  of  in  the 
general  under  the  phrase  of  the  witnesses  prophesying  in 
sackcloth.  On  the  contrary,  in  the  Smalcaldic  league, 
we  behold  a  regular  association  of  lawful  sovereigns  to 
maintain  the  religion  of  themselves  and  their  subjects 
^^•dmsl  foreign  oppression  :  we  behold  a  complete  relig- 
ious war  between  independent  princes  :  we  behold  a  relig- 
ious war  attended  with  every  one  of  the  predicted  cir- 
cumstances. The  ;J0  years  zcar,  and  the  actions  oj' Gus- 
tavus  of  SiOeden^  may  indeed  be  considered  as  a  sort  of 
religious  war  between  protestants  and  papists  ;  but  it 
possesses  none  of  the  determinate  features  of  the  Smal- 
caldic league,  nor  does  it  answer  in  any  circumstantial 
points  to  the  prediction.  Hence  I  assert,  that  theSmaU 
caldic  league  was  worthy  of  a  place  in  prophecy,  because 
it  is  a  perfect  unique  in  the  history  of  the  l^GO  years  : 
and  1  moreover  assert,  that  no  other  persecutions  were 
of  a  sufficiently  definite  nature  to  be  otherwise  describ- 
ed, than  under  the  general  phrase  of  the  untnesses  pro- 
phesyi)ig  in  sackcloth. 

2.  The  second  objection  is,  that  the  zz'ar  of  the  beast 
against  the  witnesses  was  to  take  place  when  they  were 
drawing  near  to  the  end  of  their  testimony  ;  whereas  the 
protestants  were  defeated  in  Germany  in  the  year  1347, 
which  is  alieady  near  three  centuries  ago.  This  objec- 
tion however  will  not  appear  of  any  great  weight,  when 
the  zi-holc  duration  of  the  Apostacy  is  considered  ;  for 
three  centuries  are  either  a  long  or  a  short  period  accord- 
ing to  the  number  zcifh  zchich  they  are  compared.  The 
Apostacif  of  1200  years  most  probably  commenced,  as 
■we  have  seen,  in  606  :  consequently,  in  the  year  1.547j 
the  zc'itnesses  had  prophesied  up'tcards  of  nine  centuries, 
or  very  near  three  quarters  of  their  whole  testimony.  The 
remaining  period  therefore  was  short  in  comparison  with 
that  zchich  preceded  it.* 

*  It  may  also  be  added,  tliat,  since  die  firm  establishment  of  the  Reformation, 
the  sufferings  of  t/je  n.vitnessdi  have  been  very  greatly  mitigated  ;  insomuch  that 
what  they  have  endured  during  the  last  quarter  of  the  period  of  their  prophesying  in 
sackcloth  is  not  fo  be  compared  with  their  troubles  during  the  three  first  quarters  of 
it.     Would  that  we  were  more  sensible  of  the  srcat  mercv  of  God  in  being  allowec^ 


31 

It  is  a  trite  observation,  that  one  error  generally  pre- 
pares the  way  for  another.  This  is  the  case  with  Mr. 
Galloway's  interpretation  of  the  prophecy  respecting 
the  tzoo  witnesses.  He  assumes  as  proved,  that  the 
tico  imtnesses  are  the  ttoo  Testaments ;  and  that  their 
enemy,  the  beast  of  the  bottomless  pit^  is  the  same  as 
the  second  apocalyptic  beasts  or  the  beast  of  the  earth, 
which  he  conceives  to  be  "  the  pozi^ers  of  atheism  estab- 
lished bif  revolutionanj  France.''*  From  these  premises 
he  concludes,  that  the  three  days  and  a  half  during 
which  the  loitnesses  were  to  lie  dead,  are  the  same  as 
the  time  and  times  and  dividing  of  time^  during  which 
the  saints  were  to  be  worn  out  by  the  little  horn  of  the 
fourth  beast :  and  consequently,  since  the  little  horn^  as 
well  as  the  beast  of  the  earth,  is,  upon  his  hypothesis, 
revolutionartf  France,  that  Daniel  and  St.  John  allude 
to  one  and  the  same  event ;  namely,  tlie  suppression  of 
Christianity  in  France,  during  the  space  of  three  iiears 
and  a  half.  1  have  already  shewn  the  erroneousness  of 
this  conjecture,  so  far  as  the  little  horn  is  concerned  ;  I 
shall  now  point  out,  that  it  is  equally  erroneous  in  the 
ease  of  the  present  prophecy. 

Mr.  Galloway  supposes,  that  the  izvo  zvitnesses  are  the 
izs^o  Testaments.  We  have  seen,  on  the  contrary,  that 
they  are  not  the  tzsoo  Testaments,  but  the protestant  con- 
fessors, the  spiritual  children  of  the  two-fold  church  of 
Christ.  Now  the  revolutionary  fanaticism  of  France 
was  not  directed  against  the  protestants  exclusively,  but 
against  all  who  professed  the  Christian  religion  :  the 
supposed  completion  therefore  does  not  accord  with  the 
prophecy  in  this  particular. 

Mr.  Galloway  further  supposes,  that  the  beast  of  the 
bottomless  pit,  who  slew  the  z^itnesses,  is  the  same  as  the 
second  apocahfptic  beast,  or  the  tzto-horned  beast  of  the 
earth  ;  and  that  this  tzoo-horned  beast  of  the  earth  is 
revolutionary  France.  Waving  at  present  the  discussion 
of  the  last  of  these  points,  1  shall  only  7iow  observe,  that 
the  beast  of  the  bottomless  pit,  who  slew  the  zi)itnesses, 
is  certainly  not  the  tzco-horned  beast  of  the  earth,  but  the 

to  enjoy  the  undisturbed  exercise  of  our  religion  ;  for  what  are  we  better  than  our 
fathers,  that  the  Aknighty  should  shew  himself  thus  gracious  to  us  ? 


32 

ten-horned  beast  of  the  sea  ;*  consequently  Mr.  Gal- 
loway's interpretation  will  not  hold  good  even  upon  his 
own  hypothesis.  He  has  largely  endeavoured  to  prove, 
that  the  ten-horned  beast  is  the  Papacy,^  and  that  the 
two-horned  beast  is  revohiiionurif  France  :  but,  whatever 
power  the  ten-horned  beast  may  be,  he  is  evidently  the 
same  as  the  beast  of  the  bottomless  pit :  whence  it  would 
follow,  even  according  to  Mr.  Galloway's  own  plan,  that 
the  tzvo  zvitnesses  were  slain  by  the  papal  beast  not  by  the 
atheistical  one  :  therefore  his  exposition  of  the  whole 
prophecy  must  be  radically  faulty.  This  will  yet  further 
appear,  when  I  have  proved,  as  [  trust  1  shall  be  able  to 
prove,  that  neither  the  one,  nor  the  other,  of  the  two  apoc- 
alijptic  beasts,  is  revoliitionarij  France. 

"  And  in  that  hour  there  was  a  great  earthquake,  and 
a  tenth  part  of  the  city  fell,  and  in  the  earthquake  were 
slain  seven  thousand  names  of  men  :  and  the  remnant 
were  affrighted,  and  gave  glory  to  the  God  of  heaven. 
The  second  woe  is  past  ;  and,  behold,  the  third  woe 
Cometh  qtiickly." 

Before  any  satisfactory  interpretation  can  be  given  of 
this  passage,  it  vs  ill  be  necessary  to  ascertain  the  mean- 
ing of  the  word  hour  which  occurs  in  it :  for,  upon  that, 
and  upon  the  circumstance  of  the  earthquake  being  the 
last  event  of  note  under  the  second  ivoe-trumpet,  the 
hinge  of  the  whole  exposition  turns. 

A  ijear,  a  month,  and  a  daij,  are  all  definite  terms,  con- 
veying only   one  single  idea  :  but  an  hour  is  not  so  ; 

*  I.et  the  reader  only  compare  together  the  following  texts,  and  he  will  be  suf- 
ficiently convinced  of  the  truth  of  my  assertion. 

"  The  beast,  that  auenddh  out  of  the  bottomless  ^it,  shall  make  war  against  them." 
Rev.  xi.  7. 

"  And  I  stood  upon  the  sand  of  the  sea,  and  saw  a  beast  rise  up  out  of  the  sea,  hav- 
ing seven  heads  and  ten  hoi'iis."      Rev.  XMi.  1. 

"  I  will  tell  thee  the  mystery  of  the  woman,  and  of  the  beast  that  carrieth  her, 
which  hath  the  se-ven  heads  and  ten  horns.  The  beast,  that  thou  sazvest,  was,  and  is  not, 
and  shall  ascend  out  of  the  bottomless  pit^     Rev.  xvii.  7,  8. 

It  appears  then,  that,  in  one  text,  the  seven-headed  and  ten-horned  beast  is  said  to 
arise  out  of  the  sea  ;  and,  in  another  text,  to  ascend  out  of  the  bottomless  pit :  whence 
it  is  a  palp;ible  truth,  that  the  beast  of  the  sea,  and  the  beast  of  the  bottomless  pit,  are 
tie  self-same  ten-horned  and  seven-headed  beast.  Not  that  1  conceive  the  sea  and  the 
bottomless  pit  to  mean  precisely  the  same  thing  ;  the  history  of  the  rise  of  the  Saracenic- 
locusts  sufficiently  confutes  such  an  opinion  :  but  I  apprehend,  that  the  sea  typifies 
ib;  natural  origin  rf  the  beast ;    and  the  bottomless  pit,  his  spiritual  origin. 

.f  Comment,  p.  I.IP— Proph.  History  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  passim. 


33 

for  it  either  signifies  the  twentij  fourth-part  of  a  dai/^  or 
a  season  of  indetermmate  length.'^     It  occurs  in    both 
these  senses  in  the  Apocalypse,  as  its  several  cont-^xts 
abundantly  shew.     Thus,  when  we  read  of  the  Euphra- 
tean  horsemen  being  prepared  for  an  hour^  and  a  daij^  and 
a  months  and  a  yeur^  we  cannot  entertain  any  reasonable 
doubt  of  the   word   hour  signifying  in  this  instance   the 
tweniij-fourth  part  of  a  day  :    and  since,   the  day  here 
mentioned    is  a  prophetic    day   or  a  natural    yem\   its 
corresponding  hour  will   be  the  tiventy -fourth  part  of  a 
year^  or  ffteen  natural  days.      Rut,   when   we  read  of 
there  being  silence  in  heaven  about  the  space  of  half  an 
hour^  between  the   opening  of  the  seventh  seal  and  the 
sounding  of   the  first  trumpet^  a   mode  of   expression 
used  to  denote  the  state  of  mute  expectation   in  which. 
the  Church  anticipated,  as  it  were,  from  various  less 
important  invasions,  the  grand   irruption   of  the   Goths 
under  Alaric  :  it  is  evident,  that  what  is  there  translated 
half  an  hour  ought  rather  to  be  rendered  half  a  season  ; 
both  because  the  meaning  of  the  word  is  not  limited  by 
being  connected  with  the  definite  terms  a  day^  a  month, 
or  a  year  ;    and  because  common   sense   itself  shews, 
that    that  half  hour   of   silent  and  anxious    suspense 
must   not  be  confined  to  merely  seven  natural  days  and 
a  half  the  length  of  a  determinate  prophetic  half  hour. 
In   reality,  this  half  hour^  or  rather  half  season^  extends 
from    about  the  year  321    or    323,  when  the    happy 
tranquillity  of  the  Constantinian   age  began  to  be  dis- 
turbed by   the  incursions  of  those   Goths  who  finally 
subverted     the    Western    empire,    to    the    year    39J, 
when,  the  half  season  of  restraint  having  elapsed,  they 
burst  with   irresistible   violence  the  barriers   which   the 
great  Theodosius  had  opposed  to  them,  and  poured  like 
an  overwhelming  torrent  into  the  empire. 

When  the  word  /^o«/'then  occurs  in  an  insulated  form, 
unconnected  with  the  specific  terms  a  daij^  a  months  or 
a  year ^  it  certainly  means,  not   the  twenty-fourth  part  of 

*  Thus  'Xlp>?  eiapiw,  the  vernal  hour,  means  the  "whole  season  of  spring  ;  the  length 
of  the  'Xlp»,  or  season,  beuig  in  this  particular  instance  determined  by  the  annexed 
adjective  nxfim-  E7(^  apwv  is  a  phrase  of  a  similar  nature,  though  not  precisely  of 
the  same  construction.    The  two  expressions  occur  in  Homer  and  Theocritus. 

VOL.  II.  5 


34. 

a  daij^  but  a  season  of  indeterminate  length  :  and,  when 
it  is  thus  used  in  the  Apocalypse^  1  know  not  what  season 
it  can  reasonably  be  supposed  to  mean,  except  it  be  some 
one  of  the  great  Apocalyptic  periods  ;  namely  one  of  the 
seven  seals,  one  of  the  seven  trumpets,  or  one  of  the  seven 
vials.*  Thus  the  hour  or  season  of  God's  judgment  up- 
on Babylon*]'  is  manifestly  the  one  particular  period  un- 
der which  the  papal  Apostacy  is  to  be  abolished  ;  a  pe- 
riod, comprehended  within  the  limits  of  the  last  vial : 
and  thus  the  one  hour  or  season^  in  which  the  ten  horns 
were  to  receive  power  as  kings  along  with  the  heast^ 
means  the  period  of  the  frst  woe-trumpet  ;  at  the  be- 
ginning of  which  the  ancient  Roman  idolatrous  beast  re- 
vived, by  his  lapsing,  under /i«5  ten  /zorw5,  into  the  demo- 
nolatry  o{  Popery. %  The  ten  kings  indeed  had  received 
power  previous  to  this  time  ;  but  they  had  not  till  then 
received  power  along  with  the  beast :  for  the  era  of  their 
first  rise  was  between  the  downfall  of  paga?iism  and  the 
commencement  of  Popery  ;  that  is,  during  the  short 
space  of  time  that  the  Roman  beast  had  put  off  his  bes- 
tial nature,  or,  in  the  language  of  the  prophet,  while  he 
zvas  not.  But,  if  they  rose  while  the  beast  was  not, 
though  they  were  horns  or  kingdoms  of  the  Roman  em- 
pire, they  could  not  in  strictness  of  speech  be  styled 
horns  of  the  beast,  till  the  empire  once  more  became  a 
beast.  And  this  event  did  not  take  place  till  the  year 
606,  when  the  frst  woe-trumpet  began  to  sound,  and 
when  the  beast  ascended  out  of  the  bottomless  pit,  and 
resumed  his  old  posture  of  determined  hostihty  to  the 
Church  of  Christ.§ 

*  It  is  almost  superfluous  to  observe,  that  I  except  such  passages  as  Rev.  iii.  3, 
and  iii.  10,  from  relating  to  any  of  the  apocalyptic  periods;  but  I  am  not  aware 
of  a  third  exception  in  the  whole  book  of  the  Revelation,  unless  the  half  hour  of  thr 
seventh  seal  be  a  sort  of  one. 

f  Rev.  xiv.  7.  xviii.  10,  17,  19.  \  Rev.  xvii.  12. 

§  "  Kingdoms  they  might  be  before,  but  they  were  not  before  kingdoms  or  horns  of 
The  blast  till  they  embraced  his  religion."  (Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  Rev.  xvii.) 
Though  I  cannot  agree  with  Bp.  Newton,  tliat  the  first  beast  means  the  Papany,  the 
propriety  of  this  remark  will  be  unaffected,  whether  his  scheme  or  mine  be  adopted. 
"Daniel,  not  noticing  the  three-fold  state  of  the  beast  as  St.  John  does,  simply  describes 
the  first  rise  of  the  ten  horns  and  of  the  eleventh  little  horn  wliich  sprung  up  among  them. 
This  division  of  the  empire  however  took  place  during  the  intermediate  state  of  the 
beast  :  hence  St.  John  does  not  consider  the  ten  kingdoms  as  horns  of  the  beast,  till  the 
Roman  empire  reassumed  its  ancient  bestial  nature ;    and  hence  Daniel  carefully  dis- 


35 

Arguing  therefore  from  analogy,  and  from  the  context 
of  the  particular  passage  now  under  consideration,  I  will 
venture  to  affirm  with  some  degree  of  positiveness,  that 
t/ie  hour  or  season,  in  which  t/w  great  eartfiquahe  was  to 
take  place,  and  which  is  declared  by  St.  John  to  be  the 
very  same  as  that  in  which  the  ivar  of  the  beast  against 
the  witnesses  was  to  be  carried  on  and  their  triumphant 
ascent  into  heaven  to  occur  ;  that  this  hour  or  season  is 
the  period  comprehended  under  the  second  woe-trumpet. 

It  is  observable,  that  the  two  first  woes 'ax%  2iQ.Q.\x\dXQVj 
distinguished  from  each  other,  as  they  took  place  in  the 
East ;  but  that  no  precise  line  of  discrimination  is  drawa 
between  them,  as  tiiey  sounded  in  the  West :  it  is  merely 
stated,  that,  as  soon  as  a  tenth  part  of  the  city  should 
have  fallen  by  the  earthquake,  the  second  woe  should  be 
past,  but  that  the  third  woe  should  quickly  follow  it  : 
this  line  of  discrimination  therefore  must  be  drawn  by 
referring  to  eastern  chronology.  I  have  already  stated, 
that  the  first  woe-trumpet  describes  the  rise  and  estab- 
lishment of  the  two-fold  Apostacij  ;  that  the  second  rep- 
resents the  middle  and  mostfiourishing  period  of  its  exist- 
ence;  and  that  M<?  third  detaWs  the  several  steps  of  its 
do'wnfall,  introducing  moreover  upon  the  stage  «  new  and 
most  formidable  power. 

The  first  of  the  woe-trumpets  seems  to  have  begun  to 
sound  in  the  year  606,  when  the  desolating  transgression 
of  Mohammedism  arose,  and  when  the  saints  were  given 
into  the  hand  of  the  already  existing  Papal  little  horn. 
Under  this  trumpet  are  comprehended  the  five  prophetic 
months  of  Saracenic  conquest,  which  began  in  612,  and 
ended  in  762,  when  Bagdad  was  built,  and  when  Mo- 
hammedism  may  be  considered  as  firmly  established. 
Now,  since  the  prophet  assures  us,  that  the  first  -woe  ex- 
pired at  this  period,  we  must  look  for  the  establishment 
of  Popery  either  in  or  before  the  year  762,  in  order  that 
it  may  be  comprized  under  the  same  woe  as  the  establish- 
ment of  Mohammedism.     Accordingly  the  proper  date  of 

tinguishes  between  the  period  when  tie  little  torn  first  arose,  and  the  period  when  ti>i 
saints  were  delivered  into  his  hand.  This  last  period  is  the  same  as  that  when  S?,. 
John  beheld  ifjs  bust,  in  his  tkiri  or  nvi-uid  ttaU,  ascend  out  of  th;  ssa  of  G,othic 


36 

the  firm  estahlishment  of  Poperij  is  the  year  755,  or  as 
some  say  the  year  7o8,  when  Pipin,  king  )f  France,  hav- 
ing taken  the  api^stolic  see  under  his  special  protection, 
conferred  upon  it  the  Exarchate  of  Ravenna. 

The  second  woe-trumpet   began  to  sound  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  hour,  the  day,  the  month,  and  the  tiear, 
when  the  Turkish  horsemen  were  prepared   to  slay  the 
third  part  oj'  men,  or  the  Eastern  empire  ;  this,  as  we 
have   seen,   was  m   th^e  year    1281.       \x\  the  same  year 
1281,  the  papal  Apostacy  may  be   considered  as  having 
attained  the  zenith  of  its  power ;  as  will  sufficiently  ap- 
pear from  the  following  statement  of  the  several  rapid 
strides   which   it  had  previously   made  to  absolute  uni- 
versal domination.     In  the  year  774,  the  Pope  obtained 
a  grant  of  the  greatest  part  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Lom- 
bards,    in  the  near  787,   the   worship  of  images,  which 
had  already   been  established  in  (:)07,   was  confirmed  by 
the  second   council  of  Nice.     In  the  year  817,  the  Em- 
peror Louis  finally  confirmed  to  the  Pope  his  Italian  do- 
minions.    In  the  year  1074,  Gregory  the  seventh  strictly 
forbad  the   marriage  of  the  clergy.     In  the  ijear    10j9, 
Robert  Guiscard  assumed  the   title  of  Duke  of  Apulia 
and  Calabria  ;  and  afterwards  did   homage  to  the  Pope, 
as  his  superior  lord,  for  the  dominions  which  have  since 
been  erected  into  the  kingdom  of  the  two  Sicilies.     In  the 
year  1  \3T,  the  same  feudal  submission  was  made  by  Don 
Alonsoof  Portugal.     In  the  year  1213,  John  of  England 
declared   his  monarchy  a  fief  of  the  apostolic  see.*     In 
the  pontificate  of  Innocent  the  third,  which   lasted  from 
the  year  1198  to  the  year  1216,  the  Saladine  tenth,  a  tnx 
originally  laid  upon  the  whole  Latin  empire  for  the  ser- 
vice of  the  holy   war,  was  continued  for  the   benefit  of 
the  successors  of  St.  Peter  :  and  Innocent  himself  "  may 
boast  of  the  two   most  signal   triumphs   over  sense  and 
humanity,  the  establishment  of  transubstantiation,   and 

*  The  Spanish  kinj;;dom  of  Arragon,  the  Dukedom  of  Austria,  the  islands  of  Sar- 
dinia and  Corsica,  and  more  tlian  one  of  the  Italian  priiicipalities,  declared  them- 
selves, in  the  same  dark  period,  feudatories  of  iie  Papacy.  The  long  continued 
tyrii.iny,  which  the  Pope  exercised  over  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  is  well  known. 
In  short,  it  appears  at  one  time  to  have  been  the  studied  design  of  the  Bishops  of 
Rome  to  render  themselves  temporal,  no  less  than  spiritual,  sovereigns  of  Europe.  In 
this  design  however,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  they  by  np  means  sycceeded. 


! 


37 

the  origin  of  the  inquisition."*  Finally,  to  complete  the 
aggrandisement  o{  the  church  of  Rome^  in  the  pei  id  be" 
ticeea  1274  and  1277,  she  bowed  lo  reluctant  suijinissiim 
the  neck  of  her  ancient  rival  of  Constantinople  ;  a  sub- 
mission, not  long-lived  indeed,  but  existing  in  ii.s  full 
force  in  the  year  128  i,  when  the  second  woe-trumpet  be- 
gan to  sound. f 

Thus  it  appears,  that  the  second  woe-trumpet  commenc- 
ed in  the  IVest^  as  it  did  in  the  East^  in  t'le  ijeur  1281. 
Now  we  learn  from  St.  John,  that  the  lust  events  com- 
prehended under  it,  is  to  be  the  fall  of  a  tenth  part  of 
the  great  city  btj  an  earthquake.  Consequently,  since 
the  second  woe  trumpet  began  t<^  sound  in  the  year  I2':5l, 
and  since  the  witnesses  were  stain  in  the  year  1547,  the 
two  events,  o^  the  death  of  the  witnesses  and  tl)e  earth- 
quake  must  of  course  happen  in  the  same  apocalyptic 
hour  tr  season :  that  is  to  say,  they  must  both  take  place 
under  the  second  woe-fru>npet  which  commenced  in  the 
year  1281  ;  though  the  one  event.,  as  we  shall  find,  was 
to  be  many  years  prior  to  the  other. 

And  here  we  must  carefully  note,  that  the  fall  of  the 
tenth  part  of  the  city  is  almost  immediately  to  be  follow- 
ed by  the  third  woe  :  "  the  second  woe  is  pasl  ;  behold, 
the  third  woe  cometh  quicklijP  Now,  since  both  the 
first 'Andi  the  second  woes  form  such  very  prominent  epochs 
in  history,  as  we  have  seen  them  do,  it  is  but  natural  to 
conclude,  that  the  third  and  last  woe  will  b}  no  means 
yield  to  its  predecessors  either  in  the  wonderful  or  the 
horrible  :  nay,  since  it  alone  is  subdivided  into  seven 
distinct  periods.,  it  is  no  very  improbable  supposition,  that 
it  will  far  outdo  them  in  both.;]:  Those  commentators, 
who  first  very  justly  applied  the  prophecy  o{  the  ivar  of 
the  beast  with  the  witnesses  to   the  war  of  the  Emperor 

*  Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  ii.  p.  1 52. 

t  It  is  a  remarkable  circumstance,  that  the  submission  of  the  Greek  Church  was 
withdrawn  in  th:-  year  1283,  as  if  it  had  only  continued  beyond  the  year  1281,  that 
the  Papacy  might  be  in  the  full  meridian  of  its  power,  when  the  second  ivoc-trumpet 
began  to  sound.     See  Gibbon's  Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  ii.  p.  334,  337. 

\  Its  last  period,  that  of  the  -vintage,  will  be,  according  to  Daniel,  "  a  time  of  trou- 
ble, such  as  never  was  since  there  was  a  nation  :"  and  its  first  period,  that  of  the 
harvest,  which  comprehends  the  three  Jirst  vials,  is  described  bv  St.  John  as  being  a 
very  remarkable  season  of  trouble  and  distress. 


38 

Charles  the  fflh  xmtli  the  Smalcaldic  protestanis^  did 
not  sufficiently  attend  to  this  circumstance.  Miscon- 
ceiving St.  John's  expression  of  the  same  hour,  they  im- 
agined, that  the  great  earihquahe  was  immediately  to 
succeed,  and  as  it  were  to  be  the  consequence  of,  thezoar 
of  the  witnesses  :  hence  they  concluded,  that  by  the  Jail 
of  the  tenth  part  of  the  citij  was  meant,  that  "  a  great 
part  of  the  German  empire  renomiced  the  authority,  and 
abandoned  the  communion,  of  the  church  of  Rome. ^^  But 
here  the  question  obviously  occurs,  what  great  calamity 
came  so  quickly  after  this  event,  as  to  merit  the  appella- 
tion oi  the  third  woe,  and  to  begin  the  accomplishment 
of  the  prophecy  of  the  seven  vials  /  Analogy  shews,  that 
it  must  at  least  be  equal  to  the  two  double  woes  of  the 
twofold  Apostacij  :  but  history  mentions  no  event,  as 
immediatehj  succeeding  the  establishment  of  the  reforma- 
tionin  Germany,  that  is  either  of  a  sufficient  magnitude, 
or  of  a  sufficiently  peculiar  nature,  to  warrant  us  in  con- 
cluding, that  the  third  zvoe  did  really  "  come  quickly" 
after  this  establishment.  Matters  went  on  in  the  usual 
succession  of  state  intrigues,  hollow  peaces,  and  rapidly 
recurring  wars  :  and  it  has  frequently  been  observed, 
that  the  balance  of  Europe,  as  it  is  termed,  was  first 
thought  of  in  the  reign  of  Charles  the  fifth  ;  and  that 
afterwards  the  different  states,  by  means  of  various  alli- 
ances, and  counter-alliances,  were  pretty  equally  poised 
till  the  tremendous  explosion  of  the  French  revolution. 
It  is  plain  therefore,  that  this  explanation  of  the  earth- 
quake will  not  hold  good  :  and,  if//  do  not,  all  the  other 
explanations,  attached  to  the  other  schemes  of  interpret- 
ing the  xvar  of  the  witnesses,  must  of  course  fall  to  the 
ground  along  with  the  schemes  to  which  they  are  at- 
tached.* We  must  look  out  then  for  a  very  different 
event  from  the  establishment  of  the  German  reformatio7i, 
in  order  to  find  a  satisfactory  exposition  of  the  great 
earthquake,  which  was  to  overthrow  a  tenth  part  of  the 
city ;  and  of  the  third  zvoe,  which  was  to  "  come  quickly^* 
after  it. 

We  have  seen,  that  Daniel  predicts  the  tyranny  of 
Popery  ^indMohammedism,  under  the  symbols  oftzao  little 

•  The  reader  will  find  an  account  of  them  in  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  Rev.  xi. 


39 

horns  ;  and  that  of  the  atheistical  government  of  France^ 
under  the  character  of  a  king  zcho  neither  revered  the  God 
of  heaven,  the  Desire  of  loomen,  nor  anij  other  god,  but 
zvho  magnified  himsef  above  all.  Hence  we  nnay  natur- 
ally expect,  that  St.  John,  writing  under  the  influence  of 
the  same  Holy  Spirit,  would  observe  the  same  order,  and 
would  foretell  the  same  events  :  and  such,  I  apprehend, 
we  shall  find  to  be  really  the  case.  The  apostolical  pro- 
phet, having  fully  detailed  the  history  of  the  t-wo  double 
Tvoes  of  the  twofold  Apostacij,  Mohammedan  and  Papal, 
introduces,  at  the  close  of  the  second  zcoe,  what  may  be 
termed  the  primarij  revelation  of  Antichrist ;  and  imme- 
diately after,  under  the  third  woe,  proceeds  to  the  full  de- 
velopement  o^  the  same  pozcer  in  all  its  multiplied  horrors  : 
a  pozaer,  fully  worthy  of  being  celebrated  under  afresh, 
trumpet;  for  Popery  and  Mohammedism  only  corrupted 
and  mutilated  the  word  of  God,  but  it  has  defied  him 
even  to  his  face,  and  as  a  national  act  (a  portent  hitherto 
unheard  of)  has  openly  denied  his  very  existence. 

An  earthquake  is  the  symbol  of  a  violent  revolution  ei- 
ther religious  or  political :  and  a  tenth  part  of  the  great 
citij,  or  the  Roman  empire,  is  manifestly  the  same  as  one 
of  the  ten  horns  of  the  Roman  beast.  But,  from  the  time 
of  the  German  reformation  to  the  close  o^ the  last  century, 
there  has  been  no  event  to  which  this  prophecy  of  the 
earthquake  can  with  any  probability  be  applied,  except 
the  revolution  of  France ;  a  country,  which  has  always 
been  one  of  the  most  powerful  of  the  ten  streets  of  the 
great  city,  and  which  at  the  period  of  this  earthquake 
was  the  only  one  of  the  ten  original  horns  that  remained.* 
Hence  I  scruple  not  to  conclude,  that  that  revolution  is 
here  foretold. 

It  is  represented  however  as  taking  place  before  its  own 
proper  zcoe-trumpet  began  to  sound  ;  because,  as  the  event 
has  shewn,  Antichrist  was  not  destined  to  appear  at  first 
in  all  his  naked  horrors.  The  great  earthquake  of  the 
second  zvoe,  and  the  fall  of  the  tenth  part  of  the  city  which 
it  produced,  were  for  some  time  celebrated,  by  the  fanat- 
ical advocates  of  a  chimerical  liberty,  as  the  very  quint- 

•  I  have  already  observed,  that,  ov?ing  to  the  frequent  revolutions  of  nations, 
ths  otb:r  original  horns,  have  long  since  fallen. 


40 

essence  of  human  wisdom,  the  glory  of  an  enlightened 
age,  the  most  sublime  effort  of  political  jurisprudence. 
We  were  loudly  called  upon  to  contemplate  the  magnifi- 
cent spectacle  of  a  great  nation  rising  as  one  man,  and 
decreeing  themselves  free  ;  and  we  were  particularly 
charged  to  venerate  the  mild  splendor  of  a  phenomenon 
hitherto  unknown  in  the  annals  of  a  guilty  world,  the 
phenomenon  of  a  bloodless  revolution.  Soon  however 
the  scene  changed,  even  before  the  third  zooe'trumpet 
began  to  sound  :  and  the  infidel  tijrant^  weary  of  his  un- 
natural lamb-like  mask  almost  as  soon  as  he  had  assumed 
it,  impatiently  dashed  it  aside,  and  commenced  a  series 
of  massacres  and  proscriptions  worthy  of  a  Sylla  or  a 
Marius.  In  the  ij ear  1789,  the  earthquake  cowwa^nzQ^  \ 
and  in  it  fell  a  tenth  j)art^  the  onlij  remaining  tenth  part, 
of  the  great  Ronian  citij  :  that  is  to  say  the  French  mon- 
archy, the  onlij  one  oj'  the  ten  original  regal  horns  then  in 
existence.  This  circumstance,  added  to  the  chronologi- 
cal era  to  which  the  earthquake  is  assigned,  namely  the 
close  of  the  second  Tcoe  or  a  period  subsequent  to  ike  per- 
mitted season  of  Ottoman  conquest,  might  in  itself  be  suf- 
ficient to  teach  us,  that  the  French  revolution  can  alone 
be  intended  in  this  prediction.  But  the  prophet  adds 
even  a  yet  more  decisive  mark :  "  in  the  earthquake," 
says  he,  "  were  slain  seven  thousand  names  of  men." 
The  expression  is  remarkable,  and  full  of  meaning.  la 
common  earthquakes  or  political  revolutions^  men  alone 
are  ordinarily  slain  ;  but,  in  the  present  earthquake,  their 
very  names  are  to  be  slain  :  and  the  number  of  their 
names  is  said  to  be  seven  thousand^  or  seven  multiplied 
by  a  thousand,  the  usual  apocalyptic  method  of  describ- 
ing a  great  multitude.*  Now  it  is  a  remarkable  cir- 
cumstance, that  not  merely  names  or  titles  of  nobiHiij 
in  general  should  be  abolished   or   slain   by  the  earth- 

*  Thus  the  mystic  number  of  God's  elect  is  144,  or  t/je  square  of  12,  u-hich  is 
multiplied  by  a  thousand  to  shew  us  that  they  constitute  an  exceeding  great  multi- 
tude. (Rev.  vii.  4.)  The  number  1 2  is  similarly  multiplied  by  a  thousand  in  the 
apocalyptic  description  of  //>f  neiu  Jerusalem.  (Rev.  xxi.  10  16.)  The  present 
prediction  is  constructed  upon  the  very  same  principle.  The  number  of  the  names 
or  titles  is  seven  :  and  this  number  is  multiplied  by  a  thousand  to  describe  how  great 
a  multitude  the  ancient  French  nobility  constituted.  It  is  well  known,  that  tlioy 
were  the  most  numerous  of  any  country  in  Europe,  Germany  alone  perhaps  ex- 
cepted. 


41 

gualte  ttffhe  Vrench  revolution^  but  that  precisely  seven 
such  names  or  titles  should  be  then  abolished  :  1 .  Prince. 
2.  Duke.  3.  Marquis.  4.  Count.  5.  Viscount.  6. 
Bishop.  7.  Baron.  All  these  names  were  slain  in  the 
course  of  the  earthquake^  which  overthrew  the  only  re- 
maining  tenth  part  of  the  Roman  citij^  or  the  monarchy  of 
France  :  for  the  first  shock  of  the  earthquake  took  place 
in  the  year  1789  ;  and  the  last,  on  the  memorable  lOth 
of  August  1792.  Thus  are  we  alike  directed  by  chrono- 
logical and  circumstantial  evidence  to  apply  this  predic- 
tion to  the  French  revolution.  It  was  to  be  fulfilled  after 
the  Ottoman  power  had  ceased  to  be  victorious  :  it  was 
to  be  fulfilled  in  one  of  the  ten  original  horns  of  the  beast  .• 
it  was  to  be  fulfilled  in  the  downfall  of  the  monarchy 
symbolized  by  that  tenth  horn,  and  in  the  abolition  of 
precisely  seven  names  or  titles  of  nobility.  No  event,  ex- 
cept the  French  revolution  answers  to  all  these  particulars  : 
^nd  it  does  exactly  answer  to  them  all :  consequently 
we  have  as  much  certainty,  as  can  be  attained  in  these 
matters,  that  the  French  revolution  is  here  foretold  by  St, 
John.* 

*  1  have  explained  this  prophecy  much  better  in  the  present  edition,  than  I  did 
m  the  first :  and  I  readily  acknowledge  my  obligations  to  Mr.  Bicheno  for  what  is 
here  said  relative  to  the  phrase  names  of  men.  To  his  remarks  on  this  phrase,  I 
have  added  the  observation  that  precisely  seven  such  names  were  slain  in  the  earthquake 
of  the  French  reiioli:iion.  It  is  almost  superfluous  to  observe,  that  archbishops  snd  bish- 
ops are  in  effect  the  same  title.  The  name  of  king  was  abolished  by  the  fall  of  the 
tenth  part  of  the  city  or  the  French  monarchy  itself :  and  in  the  same  earthquake  wer& 
slain  the  seven  orders  of  nobility,  temporal  and  spiritual.  Bishops  were  afterwards 
restored  by  the  republican  rulers,  but  not  in  their  former  capacity  of  ecclesiastical 
peers.  (Biche»ao's  Signs  of  the  times,  Part  I.  p.  38— 42.  Ibid.  Part  11.  p.  95,  96, 
97.)  Mr.  Bicheno  cites  the  following  curious  passage  from  a  discourse  of  Dr.  J. 
Mather,  who  wrote  in  the  year  1710.  "  We  are  assured,  that,  when  the  sixth  trumpet, 
called  also  the  second  ivoe,  has  done  its  work,  the  seventh  trumpet,  Called  the  third  zvoe, 
will  come  quickly.  Now  there  is  reason  to  hope  that  the  second  tvoe  is  past,  that  is, 
that  the  Turk  shall  be  no  more  such  a  plague  to  the  apostate  Christian  world,  as  for 
ages  past  he  has  been.  At  the  time  when  the  second  woe  passeth  away  there  is  to  be  a 
great  earthquake.  In  that  earthquake  One  of  the  ten  kingdoms  over  which  Antichrist  has 
reigned,  will  falL  There  is  at  this  day  a  great  earthquake  among  the  nations.  May 
the  kingdom  of  France  be  that  tenth  part  of  the  city  which  shall  fall  !  May  we  hear  of 
a  mighty  revolution  there  ;  we  shall  then  know  that  the  kingdom  of  Christ  is  at 
hand."  (Signs  of  the  times,  Part  II.  p.  85.)  The  speculations  of  Jurieu,  whose 
work  was  published  in  England  in  the  year  1 687,  are  equally  curious.  "  It  is  a  truth, 
which  must  be  held  as  certain  (being  one  of  the  keys  of  the  Revelation),  that  the 
city,  the  great  city,  signifies,  in  this  book,  not  Rome  alone,  but  Rome  in  conjunction  ivitb 
its  empire — This  being  supposed  and  proved  that  the  cit^  is  the  luhole  Babylonish  and 
Antichristian  empire,  it  must  be  remembered  that  this  empire  of  Antichrist  is  made  up 
of  ;,?«  kingdoms  and  of  ten  kings,  who  must  give  their  power  to  the  beast.  A  tenth  part 
of  the  city  fell :  that  is,  One  of  these  ten  kingdoms  which  make  up  the  great  dty,  the 
VOL.    II.  d 


4S 

While  the  earthquake  however  was  overthrowing  the 
tenth  part  of  the  city  and  slaying  the  seven  thousand 
names  of  men^  "  the  remnant  Avere  affrighted,  and  gave 
glory  to  the  God  of  heaven."  Those,  who  had  not  suf- 
fered themselves  to  be  deceived  by  the  specious  prom- 
ises of  Antichrist^  readily  saw  through  the  flimsy  veil 
of  pretended  liberty,  philanthropy,  and  toleration, 
which  but  ill  concealed  the  distorted  features  of  the 
atheistical  revolution.  They  acknowledged  their  fears  ; 
and  were  stigmatized  as  alarmists  :  they  protested  a- 
gainst  the  strumpet  claims  of  democratic  licentiousness 
to  the  venerable  title  of  rational  libertij  ;  and  were 
branded  as  the  slavish  enemies  of  the  freedom  of  man- 
kind :  they  gave  glory  to  the  God  of  heaven,  by  main- 
taining that  religion  is  the  only  solid  basis  of  sound  gov- 
ernment ;  and  were  ridiculed  as  bigots  or  enthusiasts. 

The  earthquake  had  now  overthrown  the  tenth  part 
of  the  citif  :  the  second  woe  therefore  was  past  ;  and, 
behold,  the  third  woe  cometh  quickly.  The  year  1789 
was  styled  the  first  year  of  Liberty  :  but  Antichrist  had 
not  yet  attained  his  full  purpose.  He  panted  to  soar 
with  a  bolder  flight  than  any  of  his  predecessors  in  ini- 
quity ;  and  he  rested  not  till  he  had  established  the 
reign  of  demojiiac  equality  ^md^  frantic  atheism. 

"  At  an  early  period  of  the  Revolution  in  France,  the 
fraternity  of  illuminated  Free-Masons  took  the  name  of 

Bahylomsh  empire,  shall  forsake  it.  Now  what  is  this  tenth  part  of  the  city  whicll 
shall  fall  ?  In  my  opinion  we  cannot  doubt  that  it  is  France — And  in  the  earthquale 
"zuere  slain  seven  thousand,  in  the  Greek  it  is,  seven  thousand  names  of  men.  I  con- 
fess that  this  seems  somewhat  mysterious — I  am  inclined  to  say,  that  these  words, 
names  of  men,  must  he  taken  in  their  natural  signification,  and  do  intimate  that  the  to- 
tal reformation  of  France  shall  not  be  made  with  bloodshed  :  nothing  shall  be  destroy- 
ed \yaX.  names,  such  as  the  names  of  Monks,  of  Carmelites,  of  Augustines,  of  Dominicans, 
of  facobines,  Franciscans,  Capucines,  Jesuits,  Minimes,  and  an  infinite  company  of  Others, 
whose  number  it  is  not  easy  to  define,  and  which  the  Holy  Ghost  denotes  by  the 
number  seven  which  is  the  number  of  perfection,  to  signify  that  the  order  of  Monks 
and  Nuns  shall  perish  for  ever."  (Cited  by  Bicheno.  Signs  of  the  times,  Part.  I.  p. 
Z^,  40.)  Dr.  Goodwin,  who  wrote  150  years  since,  had  fomied  a  very  just  con- 
ception of  what  wa  meant  by  slaying  names  of  men.  "  By  the  earthquake  here  is  meant 
a  great  ccncus  iion  or  shaking  ef  states,  political  or  ecclesiastical — The  effect  of  this 
earthquake,  and  fall  of  this  tenth  part  of  the  city,  is  tilling  se^jen  thousand  of  the  names  of 
men  —  Now  by  men  of  name,  in  Scripture,  is  meant  men  of  title,  ofjice,  and  dignity — As 
in  the  case  of  Corah's  conspiracy,  so  here  a  civil  punishment  falls  upon  these—  For 
having  killed  these  -witnesses,  themselves  are  to  be  killed  (haply)  by  being  bereft  of 
their  names  and  titles,  which  are  to  be  rooted  out  for  ever,  and  condemned  to  per- 
petual forgetfulncss."     Cited  by  Bicheno.     Ibid.  p.  41. 


43 

Jacobins  from   the  name  of  a  convent  where  they  held 
their    meetings.      They  then  counted  three    hundred 
thousand  adepts,  and  were  supported  by  two  milhons  of 
men  scattered  through  France,  armed  with  torches  and 
pikes,  and  all  the  necessary  implements  of  revolution. 
Till  the  l^th  of  August  1792,  the   French  Jacobins  had 
only  dated  the  annals  of  their  revolution  by  the  years  of 
their  pretended  liberty.     On  that  daij^   when  the  king 
was  carried  prisoner  to  the  temple,  after  having  been  de- 
clared to  have  forfeited  his  right  to  the  crown,  the  rebel 
assembly  decreed,  that  to  the  date  of  lihertij  the  date  of 
equality  should   be   added  in   future  in  all   public  acts  ; 
and  the  decree  itself  was  dated  the  fourth  ijear  of  liber- 
ty^  the  first  year  and  day  of  equalitijP 

On  this  memorable  day  then,  about  three  years  after 
the  commencement  of  the  earthquake  which  threw  down 
the  French  tenth  part  of  the  great  Roman  city^  and  only 
two  days  after  the  last  dreadful  shock  of  that  earthquake^ 
I  conceive  the  third  woe-trumpet  to  have  begun  its  tre- 
mendous blast.  "  The  second  woe  was  past  ;  and  be- 
hold the  third  woe  came  quickly J'^  Antichrist  now  stood 
revealed  in  all  his  horrors  :  and  the  long  continued  ef- 
forts of  Popery  and  Mohummcdism  were  constrained  to 
hide  their  diminished  heads  in  the  presence  of  a  gigan- 
tic monster^  who  alike  trampled  upon  the  laws  of  man, 
and  defied  the  majesty  of  heaven. 

On  the  I2th  of  August  1792,  the  iff  del  king  exalted 
himself  above  all  law  :  on  the  '^6th  of  the  very  same 
months  he  exalted  himself  above  all  religion.  As  the 
first  of  these  days  witnessed  the  abolition  of  all  the  dis- 
tinctions of  civil  society,  so  the  second  beheld  the  estab- 
lishment of  atheism  by  law.  A  decree  was  then  past, 
ordering  the  clergy  to  leave  the  kingdom  within  a  fort- 
night after  its  date  :  but,  instead  of  allowing  them  the 
time  specified  even  by  their  own  decree,  the  Jacobin  ty- 
rants of  France  employed  the  whole  of  that  period  in 
seizing,  imprisoning,  and  putting  them  to  the  most  cruel 
deaths.  The  conduct  of  these  unfortunate  men,  during 
this  dreadful  season  of  trial,  certainly  deserves  the  com- 
mendation of  the  Christian  world.  In  spite  of  the  vari- 
ous corruptions,   with  which  they  had  debased  the  pu- 


44 

rity  of  the  Gospel,  they  still  shewed  (to  use  an  apostol- 
ical phrase)  that  they  "  had  a  little  strength  :"  and  I 
doubt  not  that  many  of  them  "  slept  in  the  Lord,"  though 
1  cannot  concede  to  Mr.  Galloway  and  Mr.  Kett,  that 
they  are  the  saints  whom  the  little  horn  of  the  fourth 
beast  was  destined  to  wear  out.  The  ministers  of  relig- 
ion were  now  no  more  ;  and  no  traces  of  Christianity 
could  be  found  in  the  reprobate  metropolis  of  the  atheis- 
tical republic.  One  of  the  churches  was  converted  into 
a  heathen  temple,  ihe  ^en  o{  the  foreign  god 'Bind  his  kin- 
dred Mahuzzim  :  and  the  rest  were  used  as  places  of 
public  festivity  and  amusement.  There  the  abandoned 
citizens  of  Paris  flocked  in  crouds,  no  longer  as  formerly 
to  worship  their  Maker  ;  but  to  hear  his  name  blasphem- 
ed, his  existence  denied,  and  his  eternal  Son  ridiculed  as 
an  impostor.* 

On  the  ^Ith  of  the  same  month,  one  of  the  Jacobinical 
miscreants  caused  an  oath  to  be  taken  by  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  national  assembly,  that  every  exertion  should 
be  used  to  purge  the  earth  of  royalty  :  and  it  was  decreed, 
that  the  convention  should  be  what  they  were  pleased 
to  term  a  committee  of  insurrection  against  all  the  kings 
in  the  universe.  Claiming  a  diabolical  preeminence 
above  mere  private  assassins,  the  pretended  representa- 
tives of  a  whole  nation  enjoyed  the  unheard  of  honour 
of  being  the  first  body  of  men,  that  openly  and  systemat- 
ically proposed  to  institute  a  band  of  patriots  ;  who,  ei- 
ther by  sword,  pistol,  or  poison,  should  attempt  to  mur- 
der the  sovereigns  of  all  nations.  The  proposal  indeed 
was  not  carried  into  effect:  but  this  was  owing  \.o  fear^ 
not  to  principle.  The  prudence  only  of  the  measure  was 
called  in  question,  because  they  themselves  might  expect 
reprisals.  As  far  however  as  they  durst,  they  acted. 
On  the  19th  of  the  following  November,  a  decree  of  fra- 

*  On  the  Qth  of  No-vemhcr  1792,  a  discourse  upon  atheism  was  pronounced  by 
Dupont,  and  applauded  by  the  convention  :  and,  in  November  1793,  the  hopeful 
pupils  of  the  new  republican  school  appeared  at  its  bar,  when  one  of  them  set 
forth,  that  all  religious  worship  had  been  suppressed  in  his  section,  even  to  the 
very  idea  of  religion.  He  added,  that  he  and  his  school-fellows  detested  God  ;  and 
that,  instead  of  learning  Scripture,  they  learned  the  declaration  of  rights.  The 
convention,  delighted  with  the  progress  made  by  these  young  atheists,  ordered, 
with  the  most  enthusiastic  applause,  that  they  should  be  admitted  to  the  honours 
of  the  sitting. 


45 

ternity  and  assistance  to  their  brethren  in  rebellion 
throughout  Europe  was  passed  :  and,  on  the  2U/,  the 
president  ordered  it  to  be  translated  into  all  languages, 
as  the  manifesto  of  all  nations  against  kings  :  a  rare  in- 
stance of  French  vanity  and  presumption  ;  the  cotivention 
had  decreed  it,  therefore  it  was  the  manifesto  of  all  na- 
tions. On  the  \5th  of  December.,  another  decree  was 
past  by  these  friends  of  liberty  for  extending  the  French 
system,  per  Jas  atque  nefas,  to  all  countries  occupied  by 
their  armies  :  and,  on  the  \S)th,  Marat,  the  delicice  of 
the  people,  asserted  in  the  Jacobin  club,  that  in  order  to 
cement  liberty  two  hundred  thousand  heads  ought  to  be 
struck  off.  Meanwhile  the  streets  of  Paris  were  deluged 
with  torrents  of  gore  :  the  massacres  of  August  and  .Sep- 
teniber  will  never  be  erased  from  the  blood-stained  annals 
of  France  :  and  the  whole  republic  was  converted  by 
this  "  liberty  of  hell"  into  "  one  great  slaughter-house."* 

On  the  9\st  of  Jajuiarij  1793,  the  king,  after  suffer- 
ing every  species  of  indignity  from  his  mockery  of  a  trial 
down  to  the  ribaldry  even  of  a  Parisian  mob,  was  pub- 
licly murdered  upon  a  scaffold.  On  the  l6th  of  Octo- 
ber in  the  same  year,  the  queen  shared  the  fate  of  her 
husband.  And,  on  the  iWi  of  Maij  1794,  the  princess 
Elizabeth,  with  a  refinement  of  cruelty  peculiar  to  the 
French,  was  executed  the  last  o^  tzcentij-six  persons. 

On  the  \7th  of  October  1793,  all  external  signs  of  re- 
ligion were  abolished :  and,  with  a  view  to  encourage 
the  most  unrestrained  profligacy,  it  was  enacted,  that  an 
inscription  should  be  set  up  in  the  public  burying  grounds, 
purporting  that  "  Death  is  onlif  an  eternal  sleej^."  On 
the  ^5th,  in  order  that  no  trace  might  remain  of  the 
Christian  sabbath,  a  new  calendar  was  adopted  by  the 
Convention  ;  in  which  time  was  computed,  not  by  weeks, 
but  by  periods  of  ten  days  each  :  and,  instead  of  the  an- 
cient commemorations  of  the  saints,  festivals,  similar  to 
those  of  the  idolatrous  Romans,  were  instituted  to  the 
national  Mahuzzim^  the  Virtues,  Genius,  Labour,  Opinion 

*  After  the  massacres  of  August  and  September,  the  revolutionary  tribunal,  estab- 
lished March  the  5th  1793,  authorised  the  incessant  exercise  of  the  guillotine  ;  and, 
in  many  towns  which  had  the  misfortune  to  be  suspected  of  Anti-jacobinical  princi- 
ples, decreed  it  to  be  permanent. 


46 

and  ReziDards.  On  the  7th  of  November^  Gobet,  the  re- 
publican bishop  of  Paris,  with  his  grand  vicars,  and  oth- 
ers of  his  cJergy,  entered  the  hall  of  the  national  conven- 
tion, solemnly  resigned  his  functions,  and  abjured  Chris- 
tianity :  and,  that  the  truth  of  the  prophecy  might  be 
evinced  that  some  of  those  were  also  allured  who  had 
clean  escaped  from  them  that  live  in  error  ^  several  prot- 
estant  ecclesiastics  abjured  their  religion  at  the  same 
time.  Finally,  on  June  the  6th  1794,  fornication  was 
established  by  law,  as  anarchy  and  atheism  had  already 
been :  the  convention  decreed,  that  there  is  nothing 
criminal  in  the  promiscuous  commerce  of  the  sexes. 

Such  have  been  the  tremendous  effects  already  pro- 
duced by  the  third  woe-trumpet ;  a  trumpet^  which,  con- 
sidering the  very  short  period  of  time  that  has  elapsed 
since  it  began  to  sound,  has  far  exceeded  its  two  prede- 
cessors in  scenes  of  horror  and  confusion.  "  The  mas- 
sacre of  St.  Bartholomew,  an  event  that  filled  all  Europe 
with  consternation,  the  infamy  and  horrors  of  which 
have  been  dwelt  upon  by  so  many  eloquent  writers  of 
all  religions,  and  that  has  held  Charles  IX.  up  to  the  ex- 
ecration of  ages,  dwindles  into  child's  play,  when  com- 
pared to  the  present  murderous  revolution,  which  a  late 
writer  in  France  emphatically  calls  a  St.  BartholomenD  of 
fve  years.  According  to  Mr.  Bossuet,  there  were  about 
30,000  persons  murdered  in  all  France  on  that  day  : 
there  have  been  more  than  that  number  murdered  in  the 
single  city  of  Lyons  and  its  neighbourhood  ;  at  Nantz 
there  have  been  27,000  ;  at  Paris  loO,000  ;  in  la  Vendee 
300,000.  In  short,  it  appears,  that  there  have  been  two 
millions  of  persons  murdered  in  France,  since  it  has  call- 
ed itself  «  republic ;  among  whom  are  reckoned  250,000 
women,  230,000  children  (besides  those  murdered  in 
the  womb,)  and  24,000  Christian  priests."*  If  such 
has  been  the  effusion  of  blood  in  France  alone.,  how  will 
the  dreadful  catalogue  of  the  miseries  produced  under 
the  third  zvoe  be  swelled,  when  all  the  reY/y^,  j*  which  the 

•'  Gifford's  Preface  to  BanJHti  unmashcJ. 

f  These  wars,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  are  predicted  under  the  third  -vial,  as  the 
massacres  and  proscriptions  of  revolutionary  France  are  under  the  second.  Thege 
matters  will  be  discussed  hereafter. 


47 

revolution  has  kindled,  are  likewise  taken  into  the  ac- 
count ?  how  will  it  be  yet  incalculably  swelled,  ere  the 
terrific  blast  of  this  trumpet  has  ceased,  by  the  time  of 
trouble  predicted  by  Daniel  at  the  close  oi  the  X'^^O  years; 
a  time,  such  as  never  was  since  there  zoas  a  nation  even 
to  that  same  time  /*  We  have  already  beheld  the  effects 
of  the  first  and  second  woes  :  do  we  need  any  further 
proof  to  convince  us,  that  the  third  woe  has  begun  to 
sound  ] 

Having  thus  discussed  the  prophecy  at  large,  I  shall 
conclude  with  drawing  my  arguments  to  a  point. 

The  zvitnesses  then  are  to  be  slain,  not  Avhen  they  have 
finished  their  testimonij^  but  when  they  are  drawing  near 
to  finish  it.  This  translation  is  at  once  required,  both  by 
the  Greek  idiom,  and  by  the  harmony  of  the  prediction 
itself.  The  zvitnesses  are  to  prophesy  in  sackcloth  onl?/ 
1260  ?/ears  :  and,  at  the  end  of  that  same  period,  the 
power  of  the  beast  and  the  little  horn  is  to  begin  to  be 
broken.  Hence  it  is  manifest,  that  the  slaughter  must 
take  place  during  the  period,  not  subsequent  to  it  :  for 
how  can  the  lo^itnesses  he  slain  at  the  very  time  when 
their  calamities  are  finished  ;  and  how  can  they  be  slain 
by  the  beast,  when  the  judgments  of  God  are  gone  forth 
to  avenge  his  Church,  and  to  slay  the  beast  himself ! 

Let  us  next  note  the  era  of  the  slaughter.  It  is  plac- 
ed under  the  second  zcoe,  previous  to  the  fall  of  a  tenth 
part  of  the  Roman  city  and  the  sounding  of  tlie  third 
Zi)oe.  But  the  1260  daifs  must  necessarily  extend  to  the 
commencement  of  the  last  period  of  the  third  zaoe,  be- 
cause the  beast  is  overthrown  under  the  seventh  vial  : 
therefore  they  cannot  expire  at  the  slaughter  of  the  zmt- 
nesses,  which  takes  place  under  the  second  zvoe,  and  be- 
fore even  the  earliest  blast  of  the  third  zvoe. 

Still  it  may  be  doubted,  whether  the  zcitnesses  be  yet 
slain  or  not,  because  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the 
third  Z0oe  has  begun  to  sound.  Let  us  for  a  moment 
lay  prophecy  aside,  and  attend  only   to  history.     The 

*  As  yet  we  have  only  been  spectators  of  t/je  harvest  of  God's  ivraih.  Or  the  first 
grand  period  of  the  third  ivoe-trumpet  :  the  more  dreadful  period  of  the  -vintage  is  yet 
future.  (See  Rev.  xiv.  ]  4 — 20.)  The  two  periods  of  the  har-oest  and  the  -vintage,  by 
the  former  of  which  I  understand  the  French  re-volution  considered  in  all  the  effects 
which  it  has  produced,  will  be  discussed  hereafter. 


48 

rise  of  Mohammedism  and  the  conquests  of  the  Saracen^ 
form  one  singular  epoch  in  history  :  the  rise  and  con- 
quests of  the  Ottoman  empire  form  another  singular 
epoch  :  after  these  two,  where  shall  we  pitch  upon  a 
third  epoch  equally  singular  ^  Can  any  other  answer  be 
given,  an  answer  which  the  passing  occurrences  of  every 
day  render  more  and  more  probable,  except  the  French 
revolution  and  its  amazingly  extensive  consequences  / 
Now  the  Saracens  and  the  Turks  are  universally  allow- 
ed to  be  the  subjects  of  the  two  frst  zvoes.  And  are 
they  more  worthy  of  a  place  in  prophecy,  than  the  dar- 
ing impieties,  the  unheard  of  miseries,  and  the  vast 
change  in  the  constitution  of  the  whole  European  com- 
monwealth, which  have  flowed  from  the  French  revolu- 
tion !  Since  we  are  compelled  to  date  a  new  order  of 
things  from  this  tremendous  convulsion,  is  it  improba- 
ble that  it  should  have  been  selected  by  the  Spirit  of 
God  as  one  of  the  great  apocalyptic  eras  ?  Is  it  impro- 
bable to  suppose,  that  the  third  zooe  began  to  sound, 
when  the  reign  of  Antichrist,  of  anarchy,  and  of  athe- 
ism, commenced  1 

But  this  is  not  all :  we  have  a  clue  afforded  us  by  the 
prophecy  itself  Immediately  before  the  sounding  of 
the  third  woe,  a  tenth  part  of  the  great  Latin  city  is  over- 
thrown by  a  violent  earthquake;  and  the  consequence 
Q>i  \S\\%  earthquake  \^,  that  seven  thousand  names  of  men 
are  slain,  not  merely  men  themselves,  but  names  or  titles 
of  men.  If  therefore  the  application  o(  the  third  zooe  to 
the  commencement  of  the  reign  of  Antichrist  do  not  cor- 
respond with  this  particular,  we  may  be  absolutely  sure, 
that  it  is  erroneous :  but,  if  on  the  other  hand  it  do 
minutely  correspond  with  this  particular,  then  we  have 
attained  to  at  least  a  very  high  degree  of  probability  (so 
high  as  to  fall  little  short  of  moral  certainty,)  that  it  is 
Qiot  erroneous  ;  for,  in  that  case,  it  will  be  difficult  to  con- 
ceive, how  the  prediction  can  ever  be  more  minutely 
fulfilled,  than  it  has  already  been.  What  then  shall  we 
say,  when  we  find  that  it  does  exactly,  and  in  every 
point,  correspond  with  this  particular?  The  reign  of  An- 
tichrist was  ushered  in  by  the  full  of  mona)>:hical  France^ 
one  of  the  ten  parts  of  the  great  citij,  or  (what  is  only 


49 

another  mode  of  speaking)  one  of  the  ten  horns  of  tha 
Roman  beast :  nay  more  ;  the  only  one  of  the  ten  original 
horns  then  in  existence,  and  consequently  the  only  mon" 
(irchij  by  the  fall  of  which  the  prophecy  could  possibly 
be  accomplished.  Nine  out  of  the  ten  original  horns 
had  fallen  by  conquest  or  other  political  changes  pre- 
vious to  the  era  of  the  French  revolution  :  when  that  re-' 
volution  took  place,  the  tenth  original  horn  fell  :  at  pres- 
ent therefore  none  of  the  ten  original  monarchical  horns 
are  standing.*  Hence  it  is  manifest,  that,  if  the  proph- 
ecy has  not  been  already  accomplished,  it  now  never  can 
be  accomplished.  The  result  therefore  of  the  whole  is 
this  :  if  the  full  of  the  tenth  part  of  the  city  be  the  first 
French  revolution^  and  if  the  third  zaoe  began  to  sound 
at  the  commencement  of  the  reign  of  Antichrist :  in  that 
case,  the  slaughter  of  the  zvitnesses  must  be  past,  because 
it  takes  place  under  the  second  zooe,  and  consequently 
previous  to  the  sounding  o( the  third  zooe. 

*'  And  the  seventh  angel  sounded  ;  and  there  were 
great  voices  in  heaven,  saying,  The  kingdoms  of  this 
world  are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord,  and  of  his 
Christ ;  and  he  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever.  And  the 
lour  and  twenty  elders,  which  sat  before  God  on  theic 
seats,  fell  upon  their  faces,  and  worshipped  God,  saying. 
We  give  thee  thanks,  O  Lord  God  Almighty,  which  art, 
and  wast,  and  art  to  come  ;  because  thou  hast  taken  to 
thee  thy  great  power,  and  hast  reigned.  And  the  na- 
tions were  angry,  and  thy  wrath  is  come,  and  the  time 
of  the  dead,  that  they  should  be  judged,  and  that  thou 
shouldest  give  reward  unto  thy  servants  the  prophets, 
and  to  the  saints,  and  to  them  that  fear  thy  name,  small 
and  great ;  and  shouldest  destroy  them  which  destroy  the 
earth.  And  the  temple  of  God  was  opened  in  heaven, 
and  there  was  seen  in   his  temple  the  ark  of  his  testa- 

•  7he  Angolo-Saxon  Lorn  fell  bv  the  Norman  conquest.  But  in  France,vt)iea  the  crown 
was  transferred  from  the  Merovingians  to  the  Carlovingians,  and  from  the  Car- 
lovingians,  to  the  Capets,  it  never  ceased  to  be  worn  by  a  dynasty  of  native  princes. 
At  the  revolution  that  ancient  monarchv  was  first  overthrown  ;  and  now  that  the  regal 
form  of  government  is  restored,  the  sceptre  of  Pharamond  the  Frank,  of  Charle- 
magne the  Frank,  and  of  Hugh  Capet  the  Frank,  is  wielded  by  Napolean  Buonaparte 
the  Corsican.  Our  Henry  VI.  was  indeed  crowned  k  ng  of  France  ;  but  his  title  was 
never  acknowledged  by  .he  Dauphin,  ajnd  he  was  himself  speedily  dispossessed  of 
the  conquests  of  his  father. 

VOL.  ir.  7 


50 

meiit :  and  there  were  lightnings,  and  voices,  and  thun- 
derings,  and  an  earthquake,  and  great  hail." 

The  prophet,  reserving  a  more  full  account  of  the  sev- 
eral important  events  which  were  to  take  place  under 
this  z<Doe  for  the  pouring  out  oi  the  seven  iasi  plagues  and 
the  chapters  subordinately  connected  with  them,  gives 
us  here  a  general  preliminary  statement  of  them.  For 
the  consolation  of  the  afflicted  Church  he  inverts  the 
order  of  their  accomplishment,  placing  the  triumphant 
establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  before  God's  as- 
sumption to  himself  of  his  great  power  ;  before  the  time 
of  his  wrath  ;  before  his  destruction  of  those  that  de- 
stroyed the  earth  ;  before  the  day  of  the  anger  of  the  na- 
tions ;  before  the  last  earthquake,  which  was  to  divide 
the  great  city  into  three  parts,  and  to  overthrow  the  cities 
of  the  nations  ;  and  before  great  Babylon  came  in  remem- 
brance before  God.  Anticipating  the  final  triumph  of 
Christianity  and  the  commencement  of  the  millennium, 
he  eagerly  looks  forward  to  that  blessed  period  when  the 
kingdoms  of  this  world  should  become  the  kingdoms  of 
our  Lord  ;  and  afterwards,  as  it  were  reluctantly,  touches 
upon  the  calamities  which  yet  remained  to  be  fulfilled 
under  the  seven  vials.  The  propriety  of  this  interpreta- 
tion of  the  passage  will  be  evident,  if  we  consider  that 
the  seventh  trumpet  was  to  introduce  the  third  great  woe 
which  surely  cannot  be  the  conversion  of  the  world  to 
Christ,  and  if  we  reflect  that  all  the  seven  vial",  of  the 
last  plagues  yet  remain  to  be  poured  out  ere  the  trium- 
phant reign  of  the  Messiah  commences.* 

Thus  it  appears,  that  the  eleventh  chapter  of  the  Apoe- 
alifpse^  or  the  first  of  the  little  book,  extends  through  the 
iiD hole  period  of  the  \260  years.  The  three  remaining 
chapters  of  the  little  book  do  the  same  :  for  all  the  four  ^ 
in  point  of  chronology,  run  parallel  to  each  other ;  and 
jointly  give  us  a  complete  history  of  the  zoestern  Apos- 
tacij,  and  o{  allioho  are  concerned  imth  it  whether  active- 
ly o\  passively. 

*  See  Mede's  Works  B.  V.  Summary  view  of  the  Apoc.  p.  92C — Bp.  Newton  ' 
Dissert,  en  Rev.  xi.  in  loc* — Sir  Isa-ac  Newton's  Observ.  on  the  Apoc.  Ch^p.  H.  p; 
254. 


61 
SECTION  II. 

Concerning  the  xvar  of  the  dragon  rcith  the  woman. 

The  main-spring  of  the  Apostacij  is  the  great  red  drag- 
on, or,  as  the  Apostle  himself  informs  us,  the  devil.  It 
was  this  grand  deceiver  of  the  whole  world,  that  actua- 
ted the  tzvo-horned  beast,  and  that"  employed  at  his  insti- 
gation the  ten-horned  beast,  to  trample  under  foot  the 
Gospel  of  Christ.  Hence  St.  John  thinks  it  necessary 
to  dedicate  one  xi^hole  chapter  of  the  little  book  to  the  full 
elucidation  of  his  wiles. 

"  And  there  appeared  a  great  wonder  in  heaven  ;  a 
woman  clothed  with  the  Sun,  and  the  Moon  under  her 
feet,  and  upon  her  head  a  crown  of  twelve  stars.  And 
she  being  with  child  cried,  travailing  in  birth,  and  pain- 
ed to  be  delivered.  And  there  appeared  another  won- 
der in  heaven  ;  and  behold  a  great  red  dragon,  having 
seven  heads  and  ten  horns,  and  seven  crowns  upon  his 
heads.  And  his  tail  drew  the  third  part  of  the  stars  of 
heaven,  and  did  cast  them  to  the  earth  :  and  the  dragon 
stood  before  the  Avoman  which  was  ready  to  be  delivered, 
for  to  devour  her  child  as  soon  as  it  was  born.  And 
she  brought  forth  a  man-child,  who  was  to  rule  all  na- 
tions with  a  rod  of  iron  :  and  her  child  was  caught  up 
unto  God,  and  to  his  throne.  And  the  woman  fled  into 
the  wilderness,  where  she  hath  a  place  prepared  of  God, 
that  they  should  feed  her  there  a  thousand  two-hundred 
and  threescore  days." 

The  excellent  Bp.  Newton  appears  to  me  to  have  fail- 
ed in  no  part  of  his  commentary  upon  the  Apocalypse 
so  much  as  in  that  on  the  present  chapter.  Although 
he  had  before  very  justly  stated,  that  the  little  hook  de- 
scribed the  calamities  of  the  ztvestern  church,  and  as  such 
was  with  good  reason  made  a  separate  and  distinct  pro- 
phecy :  and  although  the  little  book  itself  repeatedly 
declares,  that  it  comprehends  nothing  but  the  history  of 
the  great  Apostacij  of  1260  years,  which  commenced  as 
we  have  seen  in  the  year  606  :  yet  he  now  supposes,  in 
direct  contradiction  to  his  former  statement,  that  St.  John 


62 

resumes  his  subject  from  the  beginnings  from  the  very 
Jirst  propagation  of  Christianitij.  Hence  he  conjectures, 
that  the  dragon,  which  persecutes  the  sifmbotical  loomaii 
or  the  Church  is  pagan  Rome  ;  and  that  he  is  styled  the 
red  dragon,  because  "  purple  or  scarlet  was  the  distin- 
guishing colour  of  the  Roman  emperors,  consuls,  and 
generals  :"  that  the  man-child  is  primarily  the  mystic 
Christ,  for  whom  the  Roman  dragon  laid  snares  to  de- 
stroy him  in  his  infancy,  as  Pharaoh  did  of  old  for  the 
male  children  of  the  Hebrews  :  but  that  Cotistantinc 
however,  the  first  Christian  emperor,  "  was  here  more 
particularly  intended,  for  whose  life  the  dragon  Galerius 
laid  many  snares,  though  he  providentially  escaped  them 
all  ;  and,  notwithstanding  all  opposition,  was  caught  up 
unto  the  throne  of  God,  was  not  only  secured  by  the 
divine  protection,  but  was  advanced  to  the  imperial 
throne  ;  called  the  throne  of  God  ;  for  there  is  no  pow- 
er but  of  God  ;  the  powers,  that  be,  are  ordained  of  God  " 
Agreeably  to  this  system,  his  Lordship  thinks  that  the 
war  between  Michael  and  the  dragon,  mentioned  in  the 
succeeding  verses,  is  the  struggle  beticeen  Christianity  and 
Paganism  ;  and  that  the  fail  of  the  dragon  from  heaven 
is  the  final  overthrow  of  idolatry.  In  a  similar  manner, 
the  wrath  of  the  dragon  after  he  is  cast  down  to  the 
earth  is  the  attempt  to  restore  paganisjn  in  the  reign  of 
Julian,  and  the  discord  excited  in  the  Church  bij  the  fol- 
lowers of  Arius  :  and  the  food,  which  he  vomited  forth 
from  his  mouth,  signifies  the  irruption  of  the  northern  bar- 
barians,  whom  Stilicho,  prime  minister  of  the  Emperor 
Honorius,  invited  into  the  Roman  empire.  The  Bishop 
however,  being  perfectly  aware  that  the  xvoman^s  recess 
i7ito  the  wilderness  during  the  space  of  1260  dai/s,  stood 
in  direct  opposition  to  the  whole  of  his  scheme,  main- 
tains, that  this  is  said  merely  by  way  of  pro/epsis,  or  an- 
ticipation ;  and  that  she  did  not  flee  into  the  wilderness 
at  this  time,  but  several  ijears  after  during  the  reign  of 
Antichrist  :  notwithstanding  the  prophet  is  at  this  very 
time  professedly  writing  the  histor/j  of  the  1260  days  : 
and  notwithstanding  the  three  other  chapters  of  the  little 
book,  namely,  the  chapter  which  immediately  precedes 
rhisj  and  the  tivo  chapters  which  immediately  follow  it, 


53 

are  by  the  Bishop  himself  allowed  to  relate  exclnsivelij 
to  the  events  of  the  1260  daijs  in  the  West* 

This  plan  of  interpretation  is  liable  to  numerous  ob- 
jections— In  thejirst  place^  it  is  highly  improbable  that 
the  prophet,  after  having  already  foretold  the  conversion 
of  the  Empire  to  Christianity  under  the  sixth  seai,  should 
now  at  length,  after  he  has  begun  to  write  the  history 
o{  the  western  Apostacij^  suddenly  return  to  the  pagan 
persecutions  of  the  Church  and  the  days  of  Constantine. 
To  suppose  this  is  to  suppose  that  a  professedly  chrono- 
logical prophet,  without  a  shadow  of  reason,  violates  at 
once  the  order  both  of  time  and  o^ place  :  the  order  of 
time,  by  suddenly  turning  back  from  the  year  60b  when 
the  Apostacy  in  its  dominant  state  commenced,  to  the 
earliest  days  of  Christ ianitif^nd  the  year  312  when  Con- 
stantine became  a  convert  ;  the  order  of  place,  by  us 
suddenly  quitting  the  peculiar  history  of  the  West  for  the 
general  history  of  the  whole  empire,  and  more  especially 
that  part  of  the  Empire  xohich  lay  in  the  East — In  the 

*  Sir  Isaac  Newton's  mode  of  explaining  the  Tvliole  prophecy  of  the  little  book  ap- 
pears to  me  very  unsatisfactory.  In  many  respects,  it  is  liable  to  the  same  objections 
as  the  scheme  of  Bp.  Newton  ;  and,  in  some  points,  it  is  Hable  even  to  greater  ob- 
jections. Thus  Sir  Isaac  conceives  the  tivo  ivomen,  mentioned  in  the  Apocalypse,  to 
be  one  and  the  saTxe  person  ;  notwithstanding  their  characters  are  evidently  so  differ- 
ent :  and  supposes,  that /Zi^  luoman  fled  wAothe  zvilJerness,  when  the  Roman  empire  was 
divided  into  the  Greek  and  Latin  empires  ;  notwithstanding  the  prophet  represents 
her  as  fleeing  there  at  the  beginning  of  the  1260  days.  The  general  outline  of  his 
whole  explanation,  so  far  as  it  regards  the  three  grand  symbols  of  the  little  hook,  is  as 
follows.  He  conjectures,  that  the  dragon  is  the  Greek  or  Constantinopolitan  Empire  ;  that 
the  fen-horned  beast  is  the  Latin  Empire  ;  and  that  the  tivo-horned  beast  is  the  church  of 
the  Greek  Empire.  In  none  of  these  particulars  can  I  think  him  right,  except  in  his 
opinion  of  the  ten  horned  beast  ;  and  even  of  that  his  definition  seems  to  me  to  be 
somewhat  too  limited,  for  the  sixth  head  of  the  ten-horned  beait  when  it  revived  was 
the  Constantinopolitan  Emperor.  As  for  the  dragon  being  the  Greek  empire,  such  an  opin- 
ion is  utterly  irreconcileable  with  the  plain  declaration  of  St.  John  that  he  is  the  de- 
•uil  and  nothing  but  the  de-vil :  and  as  for  the  second  apocalyptic  beast,  there  is  scarcely  a 
single  point  in  which  his  character  answers  to  that  of  the  Greek  Church.  For  the 
Greek  Church  never  wrought  miracles  to  deceive  the  Latins  ;  nor  did  it  exercise  all 
the  power  of  the  frst  beast,  or  the  Latin  empire,  before  him  ;  nor  did  it  cause  the 
•whole  earth  to  worship  that  beast  ;  nor  did  it  set  up  any  image  for  him  ;  nor  lastly  did 
It  ever  forbid  all  to  buy  and  sell,  except  those  who  bore  the  name  and  the  mark  of 
the  frst  beast.  In  short  Sir  Isaac's  exposition  entirely  confounds  the  whole  plan  of 
the  little  book,  which  treats  exclusively  of  the  afFairs  of  the  West,  as  the  t-wo  first  -woe- 
trumpets  had  already  treated  of  the  collateral  affairs  of  the  East. 

Since  Sir  Isaac  has  discussed  all  these  matters  in  a  single  chapter,  I  thought  it  best 
to  throw  together  my  objections  to  his  scheme  in  a  single  note,  and  not  resume  the 
subject  hereafter.  I  shall  only  add,  that  I  have  not  brought  forward  e-vcry  objection 
that  might  have  been  urged,  but  have  only  stated  some  of  the  principal  ones.  See 
Observations  on  the  Apocalypse,  Chap,  iii. 


o4 

second  jAace,  the  Bishop's  supposition,  that  the  dragon 
is  pagan  Rome,  runs  directly  counter  to  the  unequivocal 
declaration  of  St.  John,  that  he  is  the  devil* — In  ihe 
third  place,  his  conjecture,  that  the  man-child  is  Constan- 
iine,  is  equally  incongruous  with  the  analogy  of  scrip- 
tural language.  The  description  of  tliis  man-child,  that 
he  should  rule  all  nations  with  a  rod  of  iron,  is  evidently 
borrowed  originally  from  the  second  F salm,  where  the 
universal  dominion  of  Christ  is  predicted.  The  same 
mode  of  expression  is  twice  likewise  used  in  the  Apoc- 
alypse to  describe  the  power  which  Christ  exercises  both 
in  his  own  person  and  through  the  instrumentality  of 
the  faithful  •.'\  hence  surely  it  is  very  improbable,  that 
it  should  here  be  intended  to  allude  to  Constantine. 
Had  the  prophet  meant  to  have  pointed  out  that  prince^ 
he  would  scarcely  have  used  such  verij  ambiguous  phra- 
seology, as  must  by  his  readers  have  been  thought  prima 
facie  applicable,  not  to  Constantine,  but  to  Christ — An 
the  fourth  place,  the  prolepsis,  of  which  (he  Bishop 
speaks,  is  no  where  to  be  discovered  in  the  plain  simple 
language  of  the  prediction.     Nothing  is  there  declared, 

*  I  have  never  been  able  to  learn,  upon  what  grounds  Mr.  Mcde  and  Bp.  New- 
fon  so  peremptorily  pronounce  the  dragon  to  be  the  pagan  Roman  empire  ;  and,  as  if 
such  an  opinioii  could  not  be  doubted,  interpret  the  wliole  prophecy  accordingly. 
Nothing  can  be  more  definite  than  the  language  of  St.  John.  He  tells  us  unequiv- 
ocally, that  the  great  dragsn  is  "  that  old  serpent,  called  the  Devil  and  Satan,  which 
deceiveth  the  whole  world."  (Rev.  xii.  9.)  If  then  the  dragon  be  the  devil,  how  can 
\\e.hethc p,»in  Roman  empire?  The  circumstance  of  his  being  represented  with 
ten  horns  shews  plainly,  that  the  agent,  through  whose  visible  instrumentality  he 
persecutes  the  ivoman,  is  the  Roman  empire  .in  its  divided  state.  But  the  Empire  was 
not  divided,  till  after  it  had  renounced  Paganism.  The  whole  of  the  prophecy 
therefore  must  relate  to  the  Empire,  not  when  pagan,  but  when  papal,  hi  short, 
what  most  decidedly  shews  it  to  be  absolutely  impossible  that  the  dragon  should  be 
the  Pagan  Roman  empire  ;  he  is  brought  again  upon  the  Stage  long  after  the  Pagan 
Roman  empire  had  ceased  to  exist.  Under  the  yet  future  sixth  i>ial,  an  evil  spirit  is 
said  to  come  out  of  his  month  (Rev.  xvi.  ]  3.)  :  and,  at  the  commencement  of  the 
Millennium,  after  the  destruction  of  the  least  and  the  false  prophet,  he  is  bound  for 
the  space  of  a  thousand  years,  and  cast  into  the  bottomless  pit  Nor  is  this  all :  at 
the  end  of  the  thousand  years  he  is  again  let  loose  to  deceive  the  nations,  and  suc- 
ceeds in  forming  the  great  confederacy  of  Gog  and  Magog ;  after  the  overthrow  of 
which  he  is  finally  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone.  It  is  observable,  that 
in  the  course  of  the  last  prediction  relative  to  him,  he  is  no  less  than  four  times 
styled  Satan  and  the  devil:  but,  even  independent  of  this  circumstance,  how  is  it  pos- 
sible that  the  Pagan  Roman  empire  can  perform  all  the  actions  ascribed  to  the  dragon  ? 
(Rev.  XX.  1  —  10.)  Bp.  Newton  himself  allows  him  to  be  the  devil  at  the  close  of  his 
careen  If  then  he  be  the  devil  in  one  part  of  the  Apocalypse,  he  must  surely  hff 
tht  devil  in  every  other  part. 

+  Rev.  ii.  27.  and  xix.  15. 


65 

but  merely  that  the  woman,  in  consequence  of  ihe  drag-' 
on^s  violence,  fled  into  ihe  lo'tlderuess,  where  she  contin- 
ued 1260  daifs  :  that,  during  her  sojourn  there,  a  war 
took  place  between  Michael  and  the  dragon ;  the  result 
of  which  was,  that  the  dragon  was  cast  out  of  heaven  : 
and  that  afterwards,  still  during  her  sojourn  there  which 
the  prophet  carefully  mentions  2i  second  time,  the  dragon 
vomited  a  great  Jlood  out  of  his  mouth  against  her,  in 
order  that  she  might  be  completely  carried  away  by  it. 
In  all  this,  I  can  perceive  nothing  like  the  slightest  inti- 
mation of  any  prolepsis,  but  rather  the  very  reverse  :  I 
can  only  discover  a  plain  account  of  the  woman's  perse- 
culion  during  1260  daijs  :  an  account,  which  exactly 
tallies  with  the  general  subject  of  the  little  book;  with 
the  1260  days  prophesifing  of  ihe  loitnesses  in  the  preced- 
ing chapter,  and  with  the  42  months  tijrannif  oj'  the  beast 
in  the  succeeding  chapter.  Hence  I  conclude,  that  this 
middle  chapter  of  the  little  book  treats  of  the  same  peri- 
od, that  its  Jirst  and  tzvo  last  chapters  treat  of — In  the 
fifth  place,  the  scene  of  the  warfare  between  the  woman 
and  the  dragon  is  laid,  at  least  the  beginning  of  it  is  laid, 
in  heaven,  or  the  Church  general.  The  dragon,  the  per- 
secutor, was  a  sign  in  heaven,  no  less  than  the  woman, 
the  persecuted.  Whence  it  will  undeniably  follow,  that 
the  seven-headed  and  ten-horned  dragon,  must  have  stirred 
up  this  persecution  against  the  woman  through  the  in- 
strumentality, not  o^  a  pagan,  but  of  «  nominally  Christ- 
ian, power.  Heaven  indeed  is  the  symbol  either  o^  tem- 
poral ox  spiritual  politij  :'^  little  doubt  however  can  be 
entertained  in  which  sense  it  is  to  be  taken  in  the  present 
instance,  when  we  note  that  both  the  woman  and  the 
dragon  were  equally  signs  in  this  heaven.  Where  the 
i<soman  was,  there  was  the  dragon  also.  But,  in  the  days 
of  Paganism,  imperial  Rome  alone  occupied  the  temporal 
heaven  :  the  Church  was  utterly  excluded  from  it.  The 
heaven  therefore  cannot  be  the  temporal  heaven.  But, 
if  it  be  not  the  temporal  heaven,  it  must  be  the  spiritual 
heaven,  or  the  Church.  And,  if  it  be  the  spiritual  heaven, 
or  the  Church  ;  then  the  prophecy  can  have  no  relation 

'   See  the  preceding  chapter  upm  symiolUal  language. 


.56 

to  the  persecutions  of /?«^rm  Rome:  for  the  empire,  as 
pagan^  never  was  in  the  spiritual  heaven  ;  and  conse- 
<juently  cannot  be  the  dragon^  which  the  prophet  de- 
clares to  have  been  in  tJie  self-same  heaven  with  the  wo- 
man. In  no  sense  tlierefore,  either  temporal  ox  spiritual^ 
can  the  dragon,  upon  Bp.  Newton's  interpretation,  be 
placed  in  heaven  at  the  same  time  that  the  woman  was 
there.* 

*  The  interpretation,  which  Mr.  Mede  and  Mr.  Whitaker  give  of  this  prophe- 
cy, is  nearly  the  same  as  that  of  Bp.  Newton.  The  point  in  which  they  vary  from 
each  other  is  the  man-child. 

An  exposition,  essentially  differing  from  that  of  all  these  writers  has  been  offered 
by  Mr.  Bicheno.  He  supposes  the  dragon  to  be  the  Roman  empire  from  its  first  rise 
dozv/i  to  the  moment  of  its  present  existence  in  the  German  empire.  While  it  Was  pagan, 
it  was  only  a  great  red  dragon  :  but,  when  it  was  converted  to  Christianity,  and  thus 
got  into  the  Church,  it  acquired  the  additional  character  of  Satan  or  the  serpent. 
Michael  and  his  angels  are  the  Goths  and  other  northern  nations.  The  heaven,  out  of 
which  they  cast  the  dragon,  is  Italy  :  the  earth,  into  which  he  is  cast,  is  the  empire 
•without  the  limits  of  Italy,  or  the  Roman  provinces.  After  he  has  been  thus  ejected 
from  heaven  or  Italy,  he  makes  his  appearance  first  in  France  when  Ch.arlemagne 
became  Emperor  of  the  Romans,  and  afterwards  in  Germany  where  he  has  ever 
since  continued.  The  ivildemess,  into  v/hich  the  ivo7nan  flees,  symbolizes  Bohemia., 
Silesia,  and  Moravia  :  and  the  ivar  of  the  dragon  against  the  tvoman  denotes  tbs  perse- 
cution of  the  protcstants  in  those  parts  by  the  Emperors  of  Germany.  The  seven  heads  and 
ten  horns  of  the  dragon  are  the  same  as  the  seven  heads  and  ten  horns  of  the  beast ;  which 
represents  the  ecclesiastical  tyranny  of  the  Pope.  The  dragon  at  the  close  of  the  Apoc- 
ylypse  is  still  the  German  empire.  The  beast,  or  the  Papacy,  will  be  first  overthrown  ; 
at  which  period  the  dragon  will  only  be  bound,  or  have  his  power  so  weakened  as 
to  be  incapable  of  any  immediate  exertions  :  but,  at  the  end  of  the  thousand  years, 
v,'hich  are  no  more  than  a  thousand  natural  iveeks,  he  will  be  let  loose  again.  That 
is  to  say,  "  after  nineteen  natural  years  and  a  quarter"  for  to  this  short  period  of  time 
Mr.  Bicheno  reduces  the  thovsand  years,  "  the  imperial  monarchy  will  again  exert  its 
power,  form  extensive  alliances,  and  make  one  grand  effort  against  the  Church  of  God, 
the  liberties  of  the  regenerated  nations,  and  particularly  against  the  fe-ivs,  to  pre- 
vent the  re-establishment  of  their  commonwealth :"  but  this  effort  will  end  only 
in  the  destruction  of  them  that  make  it,  for  God  will  magnify  himself  in  their 
everlasting  overthrow.  (Signs  of  the  times,  Part  I.  p.  14,  15.  Part  III.  p.  129,  130. 
The  destiny  of  the  German  empire  passim.) 

The  objections,  which  I  have  made  to  Bp.  Newton's  scheme,  might  in  themselves 
be  sufficient  to  confute  this  singular  exposition  of  Mr.  Bicheno  :  nevertheless  I  shall 
add  a  few  remarks  on  those  parts  of  it  wherein  he  differs  from  the  Bishop — In  his 
notion,  that  heaven  means  Italy,  and  the  earth  the  provinces  of  the  Roman  empire,  to  say 
nothing  of  his  not  having  a  shadow  of  authority  for  making  such  an  assertion,  he 
is  totally  inconsistent  even  with  himself.  The  great  star  that  falls  from  heaven  under 
the  third  trumpet  he  elsewhere  supposes  to  be  Attila.  If  heaven  denote  Italy,  how  did 
Attila  fall  out  of  it  1  So,  in  the  present  prophecy,  the  ivoman  is  said  to  have  been 
in  tht  same  heaven  with  the  dragon.  At  what  period  was  the  Church  exclusively  con- 
fined to  Italy  ?  Again  :  the  ivhole  earth  is  said  to  worship  the  ten-horned  beast,  which 
according  to  Mr.  Bicheno  is  the  Papacy.  Did  the  provinces  of  the  Roman  empire 
alone  venerate  the  Pope  ?  Was  his  authority  totally  disregarded  in  heaven  or  Italy  ? — 
But  the  seven  heads  of  the  dragon  are  the  same  as  the  sever,  heads  of  the  beast ;  and  the 
last  head  of  the  beast  Mr.  Bicheno  supposes  to  be  the  Papacy.  If  then  the  existing 
headof  the  dragon  be  the  Papacy,  how  can  the  dragon  in  his  present  State  be  the  Em- 
peror of  Germany  ?  Is  the  Pope  the  head  of  the  German  empire  ? — The  thousand  years 
however  are  only  nineteen  natural y:.irs  and  s  q\sarier.     Who,  tliat  has  paid  tlio   least 


^7 

The  fact  is,  this  second  chapter  of  the  little  booh.,  like 
its  fellows  preceding  and  succeeding^  relates  solely  and 
exclusively  to  the  events  o^  the  1260  years* 

attention  to  proplitcy,  will  tolerate  an  assertion,  which  violates  every  principle  of 
propheuc  computation  ?-- But  the  unfortunate  Emperor  of  Germany,  ^her  he  has 
been  bound  tunctein  years  and  a  quarter,  is  at  length  to  perish  fighting  against  the 
regenerated  nations  of  Europe  ;  that  is  to  say,  regenerated  according  to  the  maxims 
oi  trench  democracy,  against  w^hich  Mr.  Bicheno  is  very  indignant  that  any  one 
shjuld  presume  to  raise  his  hand.  I  ask,  Where  is  he  to  find  any  of  those  regen- 
eri.Lea  nations  ?  France,  HoUand,  Switzerland,  and  the  quondam  Cis-Alpine  re- 
public, have  been  most  effectually  re-regenerated  by  Buonaparte  :  and  the  man, 
who  at..- errs  that  in  the  disastrous  campaign  of  1805  Austria  was  embarked  in  a 
crusade  against  liberty,  must  possess  a  most  astonishing  obliquity  of  intellect.  1 
nieai:  not  to  say,  that  Mr.  Bicheno  makes  such  an  assertion,  for  all  his  writings 
we.,  ublished  before  that  period.  I  only  conjecture,  from  the  peculiar  manner 
iu  ■A'liicli  h;s  Destiny  of  the  German  empire  was  lately  re-advertised,  that  he  supposes 
the  dragon  to  have  been  bound  by  the  fatal  battle  of  Ansterlitx —  Mr.  Bicheno  some- 
wiiat  triumphantly  asks.  Where  is  the  dragon  elsewhere  used  as  a  symbol  of  the  devil  ? 
Now,  even  if  it  were  not,  it  would  be  amply  sufficient,  so  far  as  the  present  proph- 
ecy is  concerned,  to  reply,  that  .St.  John  tells  us,  no  less  than  seven  times,  that  the  dragon 
h  Satan  or  the  devil ;  and  therefore  that  I  conclude  him  to  he  the  devil.  But  Mr. 
Bicheno  must  surely  either  have  overlooked  the  third  Chapter  of  Genesis  ;  or  must 
have  been  ignorant,  that  the  dragon  of  the  ancients  was  not  the  poetical  monster  of  the 
middle  ages,  but  simply  a  large  serpent.  What  St.  John  beheld,  was  a  great  red  snake 
•with  seven  heads  and  ten  horns  ;  not  a  creature  ivith  four  legs  and  tivo  ivings  hke  the 
fabulous  grifiin,  aj  the  licence  of  painters  is  wont  ridiculously  to  represent  the 
apocalyptic  dragon — This  leads  me  to  notice  the  odd  idea,  that  the  Roman  empire  while 
pagan  was  onlv  the  dragon  ;  but  that,  when  it  was  converted  to  Christianity,  it  be- 
came the  serpent  and  the  devil.  Canstantine  was  certainly  not  a  pattern  of  primitive 
piety,  and  the  Church  in  his  days  was  by  no  means  so  pure  as  it  had  been  :  yet  I  really 
cannot  digest  the  assertion,  that  the  empire  by  embracing  even  a  debased  Chris- 
tianity changed  from  bad  to  worse. 

Mr.  Lowman  does  not  attempt  to  give  a  regular  explanation  of  the  prophecy 
relative  to  the  dragon  and  the  ivoman  ;  but  he  very  judiciously  confines  it  to  the  pe- 
riod of  1260  days,  and  supposes  it  exactly  to  synchronize  with  the  preceding  vision 
of  the  -witnesses,  and  the  succeeding  vision  of  the  ttuo  beasts.  "  The  seven  heads  and  ten 
horns"  says  he,  "is  a  description  so  exactly  agreeable  to  the  description  oithe  beast, xhdiX. 
it  may,  I  think,  be  justly  understood  as  a  Hmitation  of  the  opposition  here  meant  to 
the  times  of  the  beast,  or  to  that  time  when  the  Roman  poiver  was  represented  by  ten 
hor-:s,  as  well  as  by  seven  heads  and  crozvns  ;  Or  not  before  ten  kingdoms  were  erected 
by  the  nations  which  broke  in  upon  the  Roman  empire,  and  divided  it  into  many 
independent  governments — The  representation  oithe  ivild  beasts  in  this  vision  (Chap. 
xiu.j  refers  to  the  same  times  with  the  two  former  visions  of  the  -witnesses prophesying 
in  sackcloth,  and  the  -ivoman  flying  into  the  xvilderness."      Lowman's   Paraphrase   in   loc. 

On  the  whole,  I  think  it  abundantly  evident,  that  the  times  previous  to  the  com- 
mencement of /A^  1260  days  are  necessarily  excluded;  and  consequently  that  the 
prophecy  can  have  no  relation  to  the  age  of  Constantine. 

*  All  the  four  chapters  of  the  little  booi  must,  in  point  of  chronology,  run  either 
successive,  or  parallel,  to  each  other.  Three  of  these  chapters,  namely,  the  first,  the 
third,  and  the  fourth,  (Rev.  xi.  xlii.  xiv.)  Bp.  Newton  himself  supposes  to  run  parallel 
to  each  other,  all  of  them  equally  relating  to  the  events  of  the  1 260  years  :  yet, 
wuh  singular  inconsistency,  he  conceives  the  second  ni  the  chapters  chronologically 
to  orecede  the  third ,-  and  consequently,  since  the  third  treats  of  the  same  era  as  the 
fist  and foirtb,  the  second  m.Ht,  according  to  his  scheme,  precede  the  first  and  fourth, 
no  less  than  :he  third.  .Such  a  mode  of  interpretation  completely  destroys  the  beau- 
tiful simpiicuy,  vvltii  which  the  Hills  book  is  arranged.     All  its  chapters,  as  I  have 

VOL.     II.  8 


Heaven  is  the  Church  general ;  the  same  as  the  holy 
citij^  mentioned  in  the  last  chapter.  The  woman  is  the 
spiritual  churchy  consisting  of  true  believers  ;  the  same 
as  the  temple^  and  the  two  nDitnesses.  And  the  part  of 
heaven^  occupied  by  the  dragon,  is  the  nominal  church  of 
the  Apostacif ;  the  same  as  the  outer  court  trodden  under 
foot  hij  the  Gentiles,  and  as  the  great  scarlet  zohore,  here- 
after mentioned  by  the  Apostle  as  riding  triumphantly 
upon  the  ten-horned  beast. 

The  woman  is  represented,  as  being  clothed  with  the 
Sun  ;  to  denote  that  her  spiritual  nakedness  is  only 
clothed  by  the  righteousness  of  Christ  :  as  standing  up- 
on the  Moon,  which,  like  herself,  is  a  symbol  of  the 
Church  ;  to  mark,  that  she  shines  only  with  a  borrowed 
light,  being  naturally  a  dark  opaque  body  :*  and  as 
wearing  a  crown  of  twelve  stars  ;  to  shew,  that,  as  the 
Church  is  a  "  crown  of  rejoicing"f  to  the  Apostles,  so 
the  Apostles  are  the  brightest  crown  of  the  L  liurch. 

The  dragon,  as  the  Apostle  himself  teacheth  us,  is 
"  that  old  serpent,  called  the  devil  and  satan^  He  is 
here  represented  with  seven  heads  and  ten  horns,  to 
shew  us  by  whose  visible  agency  he  should  persecute 
the  woman  ;  namely  by  that  of  the  seven-headed  and  ten- 
horned  beast  mentioned  in   the  next  chapter  :    and  he  is 

just  observed,  mmt  be  either  successi-ve  or  parallel  to  each  other.  This  being  tlie  casQ; 
if  Bp.  Newton  makes  the  third  chapter  succeed  the  second,  he  ought  hkewise  to 
make  the  second  succeed  the  Jirst,  and  the  fourth  the  third :  instead  of  which  he  se- 
lects one  of  the  middle  chapters  of  the  book,  and  makes  it  precede  all  the  others,  which 
he  supposes  to  run  parallel  to  each  other.  This  he  does  in  direct  opposition,  both  to 
the  plain  language,  and  the  plain  tenor,  of  the  little  boot.  Its  three  first  chapters  re- 
spectively declare,  that  they  treat  of  the  events  of  the  I2C0  years  :  (Rev.  xi.  2,3.  xii. 
6,  14.  xiii.  5.)  hence  it  is  evident,  that  they  must  be  parallel,  not  successive,  to  each 
other.  As  for  the  last  chapter,  (Rev.  xiv.)  though  no  such  declaration  is  explicitly 
made  respecting  it,  yet  its  contents,  as  Bp.  Newton  rightly  observes,  sufficiently 
shew,  that  "  it  delineates,  by  way  of  opposition,  the  state  of  the  true  Church  during 
the  same  period,  its  Struggles  and  contests  with  the  beast,  and  the  judgments  of  God  up- 
on its  enemies."  On  the  whole,  I  think  it  abundantly  evident,  that  all  the  four  chap- 
ters of  the  little  book  run  parallel  to  each  Other  :  consequently  the  second  of  them  can 
have  no  connection  with  the  age  of  Constantine. 

*  Bp.  Newton  supposes  the  moon  here  to  mean  the  Jeiuiih  ncui  moons  and  festivals 
as  well  as  all  sublunary  things  :  but  I  cannot  find,  that  this  interpretation  at  all  tallies 
vi^ith  the  general  analogy  of  symbolical  language.  When  the  Sun  means  a  temporal 
'.overeign  ;  the  Afoon,  as  Sir  Isaac  Newton  very  justly  observes,  and  as  I  have  stated  in 
ray  chapter  upon  symbols,  is  "  put  for  the  body  of  the  common  people,  considered  as  the  ii/ig's 
wife  :"  when  the  Sun  is  Christ ;  the  Moon  will,  in  a  similar  manner,  signify  his  mysti- 
cal wife  the  Church. 

+  1  Thess.  ii.  19. 


o9 

said  to  be  in  heaven^  because  the  empire,  which  he  used 
as  his  tool,  made  profession  of  Christianity  ;  and  there- 
fore constituted  part,  although  an  apostate  part,  of  the 
visible  Church  general* 

As  he  is  described  with  seven  heads  and  ten  horns  in 
allusion  to  the  Jirst  apocalyptic  beast,  or  the  Papal  Ro- 
man empire  :  so  he  is  said  likewise  to  have  a  tail  in  re- 
ference to  the  corrupt  superstition  so  successfully  taught 
by  the  second  apocalyptic  beast,  or,  as  he  is  elsewhere 
styled,  the  false  prophet.  With  this  tail  he  draws  the 
third  part  of  the  stars  of  heaven,  and  casts  them  down 
to  the  earth  :  in  other  words,  he  causes  those  Christian 
bishops,  whose  sees  lay  in  the  Roman  Empire,^  to  apos- 
tatize from  the  purity  of  the  apostolic  faith.  The  ap- 
pointed time,  during  which  he  is  permitted  to  reign,  is 
the  1260  ij ears  of  the  great  Apostacy  :  hence  the  woman 
is  said  to  flee  from  his  face,  during  piecisely  that  period, 
into  the  xvildcrness,  as  Elijah  heretofore  did  from  the 
face  of  Ahab  :  and  there,  in  the  midst  of  the  spiritual 
barrenness  which  spreads  far  and  wide  around  her,  she 
is  fed  with  the  heavenly  vnanna  of  the  it^ord  in  her  pre- 
pared place  ;  as  Elijah  was,  in  the  waste  and  howling- 
desert,  by  the  ravens. 

Thus  far  the  prophecy  is  sufficiently  easy  of  interpre- 
tation, but  the  character  of  the  man-child  is  attended 
with  wonderful  difficulties.  That  he  must  be  Christ  in 
some  sense,  is  manifest,  as  Mr.  Mede  very  justly  ob- 
serves :\  but  the  matter  is,  how  we  are  to  interpret  his 
character,  so  as  to  make  it  accord  with  the  general  tenor 
of  the  prediction.  It  seems  at  once  extremely  harsh, 
and  altogether  incongruous  with  the  universal  phraseol- 
ogy of  Scripture,  to  suppose   that  the  absolutely  literal 

*  It  is  observable,  that  our  reformers  never  thought  of  unchurching  the  church  of 
Rome  ;  though  they  freely  declared  it  to  have  "  erred,  not  only  in  living  and  man- 
ner of  ceremonies,  but  also  in  matters  of  faith."  Hence,  while  they  rejected  its 
abominations,  they  did  not  scruple  to  derive  from  it  their  line  of  episcopal  and  sa- 
cerdotal ordination  ;  well  knowing,  that  holiness  of  office  is  a  perfectly  distinct  thing 
from  holiness  of  character,  and  that  the  consecration  of  a  Judas  was  no  less  valid 
than  that  of  a  Paul  or  a  Peter. 

t  We  have  already  seen,  that  the  Roman  Empire  is  frequently  represented  in  the 
Revelation  as  being  a  third  part  of  the  symbolical  Universe. 

\  "  Cum  verba  sint  Christi  periphrasis,  necesse  est  ut  iisdetn  Chrisius  aliquis  d»' 
signetur."    Con-i,ment.  Apoc.  in  loc^. 


60 

Christ  can  be  intended  by  this  symbol  ;  for  our  tord  is 
invariably  represented  as  the  husband^  never  as  the  son^ 
of  his  Church.  Hence  Mr.  Mede  conceives,  and  per- 
haps not  without  reason,  that  the  mystic  Christ  is  here 
meant,  or  Christ  considered  in  his  members  ;  in  other 
words,  that  by  the  man-child  we  are  to  understand  the 
•whole  bodtj  of  the  faithful^  or  the  spiritual  children  of 
the  Church.  Thegreatest  difficulty  however  yet  rem?  ns. 
Supposing  this  interpretation  of  the  symbol  to  he  the 
right  one,  how  are  we  to  interweave  it  with  the  predic- 
tion, so  as  to  make  them  properly  harmonize  together  ? 
Mr.  Mede  believes  the  pains  of  the  icoinun  previous  to 
her  parturition  to  denote  the  perseculiuns  oj  the  Church 
during  the  days  of  pugunism  ;  and  the  catching  up  of 
the  child  to  the  throne  of  God  to  signify  the  introduction 
of  the  Christians  into  sovereign  power  bij  the  conversion 
of  the  Roman  empire  under  Constantine.  This  interpre- 
tation however  both  completely  violates  (as  1  have  al- 
ready observed)  the  chronology  of  the  prophecy,  by 
carrying  us  back  to  a  period  h)ng  prior  to  the  commence- 
ment of  ^//^  1260  ifeurs ;  and,  in  other  respects  likewise, 
is  very  far  from  being  unexceptionable.  If  the  man- 
child  denote  the  whole  body  of  Christians^  why  should 
they  be  said  to  be  born  more  in  the  age  of  Constantine 
than  in  any  other  age  ?  And,  if  numbers  of  spiritual 
children  still  continue  to  be  born  to  the  Church  by  the 
laver  of  regeneration,  how  can  the  pangs  of  the  "ii'oman 
signify  the  pagan  persecutions  / 

Mr.  Lowman's  scheme  appears  to  me  liable  to  much 
fewer  objections  than  Mr.  Mede's.  Like  myself  he 
confines  the  ichoie  nar  betzceen  the  iconian  and  the  drag- 
on to  the  period  of  the  1260  ijears^  instead  of  going 
back  to  the  days  of  primitive  Christianity,  and  the  age 
of  Constantine  ;  and  most  justly  observes,  that  the  pre- 
diction "  plainly  describes  an  afflicted  and  persecuted 
state  of  the  Church  in  general,  during  this  period.^* 
Having  taken  this  ground,  which  to  myself  at  least  ap- 
pears absolutely  impregnable  inasmuch  as  it  is  twice  so 
particularly  marked  out  by  the  Apostle,*  he  paraphrases 

-   Rev.  xii.  6,14. 


61 

the  passage  relative  to  the  birth  of  the  man-child,  as  fol- 
lows. "  The  womiin  ready  to  be  delivered  brought  t'oitlt 
a  man-child.,  to  intimate  that  the  Chridiian  Church  should 
be  continued  by  a  constant  succession  of  converts,  not- 
withstanding all  opposition.  Thus  Christ's  kingdom 
should  prevail  overall  enemies,  and  break  all  opposition, 
as  the  ancient  oracles  prophesied  concerning  him,  !'hat 
he  should  rule  all  nations  as  ivith  a  sceptre  >f  iron. 
As  soon  as  this  child  was  born,  1  beheld  it,  caui^ht  up  to 
God  and  his  throne,  to  intimate  God's  care  and  protec- 
tion of  the  true  Christian  Church.,  and  the  safety  of  the 
Church  in  God's  protection."* 

This  exposition  is  incomparably  the  best  that  1  have 
hitherto  met  with.  In  the  first  place,  Mr.  Lowman  as- 
signs the  prophecy  to  its  right  chronological  era;  namely 
the  period  of  the  1260  years.  In  the  next  place,  he 
very  justly,  I  think,  supposes  the  travailing  of  the  woman 
to  "  mean  her  fruitfulncss  and  to  denote  the  number  of 
converts  to  true  religion  ;  rather  than  the  afiictions  of 
the  Church  on  account  of  her  profession^''  as  Mr.  Me  tie 
imagines.  And  he  lastly  adopts  the  most  natural  inter- 
pretation of  the  catching  up  of  the  man-chUd  to  the  throne 
of  God ;  namely,  that  it  signifies  the  superintending  care 
li'ith  which  the  Almighty  for  ever  guards  his  faithful  jjeo- 
pie.  Yet  even  this  exposition  is  not  free  from  every  ob- 
jection. The  question  will  still  recur,  Why  should  the 
woman  be  represented  as  bringing  forth  the  man-child 
immediately  before  her  flight  into  the  wilderness  during 
the  1260  daifs.,  rather  than  at  any  other  era  !  Did  she 
bear  no  spiritual  children  before  that  era?  Has  she  borne 
none  since  1  If  the  text  indeed  will  sanction  the  gloss 
which  Mr,  Lowman  has  put  upon  it,  that  the  bringing 
forth    of  the    man-child   intimates    that    the    Christian 

*  Lowman's  Paraph,  in  loc.  He  adds  in  a  note,  "  Grotius  supposes,  I  think, 
with  great  probability,  that  these  expressions,  And  her  child  luus  caught  up  unto  God 
and  his  throne,  are  an  allusion  to  the  preservation  of  Joash,  in  the  time  of  Athaliah's 
usurpation,  when  she  put  to  death  all  the  rest  of  the  royal  family.  (2  Kings  xi.  2, 
■^v  "Jehoshebah  took  yaash  the  son  of  Ahaziah,  and  stole  him  from  among  the  ting's  sons 
yihich  ivere  slain — And  he  ivas  hid  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  six  years.  He  was  kept  safe 
in  one  of  the  chambers  of  the  temple,  till  he  was  brought  out  by  Jehoiada  the 
high-priest,  and  restored  to  the  kingdom  of  David.  Thus  the  true  worshippers 
of  God  shall  not  all  be  destroyed  by  the  enemies  of  religion  ;  some,  like  Joash,  shall 
be  kept  safe,  as  if  in  heaven,  the  true  temple,  till  they  shall  appear  publicly  with 
victory  over  their  enemies." 


6t? 

Churcli  should  be  continued  by  a  constant  succession  of 
converts,  1  would  without  hesitation  adopt  the  whole  of 
his  exposition  ;  but  1  am  not  perfectly  satisfied,  that 
such  a  gloss  is  allowable.  Let  every  person  however 
judge  for  himself.  The  symbol  of  the  man-child  has  al- 
ways appeared  to  me  by  far  the  most  difficult  in  the 
whole  Apocalypse  ;  whether  we  consider  its  general  in- 
terpretation, or  its  particular  application  to  the  prophecy 
in  question.  Hitherto  1  have  met  with  no  exposition, 
that  gives  me  entire  satisfaction  :  but,  at  the  same  time^ 
I  readily  confess,  that,  after  much  thought  and  labour 
bestowed  upon  the  subject,  1  can  produce  nothing  that 
pleases  me  better,  or  indeed  so  well,  as  this  exposition 
of  Mr.  Lowman.*  In  short,  1  consider  the  symbol  of 
the  man-child  as  a  complete  crux  criticorum.  Much  has 
been  written  on  the  subject,  but  I  have  read  nothing 
that  is  ztdiolly  unobjectionable.  It  is  possible,  that  some 
future  commentator  may  be  more  successful  in  his  in- 
quiries than  those  who  have  preceded  him. 

But,  whatever  difficulty  there  may  be  in  satisfactorily 
interpreting  the  symbol  of  the  man-child,  every  other 
symbol  and  every  other  particular  in  this  vision  are  suffi- 
ciently plain.  The  whole  prophecy  relates  to  the  perse- 
cution of  the  true  Church,  bif  the  papal  Roman  empire 
under  the  influence  of  the  devil,  during  the  allotted  period 
of  three  times  and  a  half  or  1260  days. 

"  And  there  was  war  in  heaven  :  Michael  and  his 
angels  fought  against  the  dragon  :  and  the  dragon  fought 
and  his  angels,  and  prevailed  not  ;  neither  was  their 
place  found  any  more  in  heaven.     And  the  great  dragon 

*  The  Jesuit  Cornclhis  a  Lapide  supposes,  like  Mede  and  Lowman,  that  (be  man- 
child  denotes  the  faithful  people  (f  God.  "  Proprie  et  genuine, /;//«/  tiuisculus  csl  populus 
jidclis  et  sanctus,  quem  Christo  parii  Ecclesia."  (Coinnient.  in  A]50c.  in  loc.)  The 
objection,  wh'ch  I  urge  jointly  to  the  opinion  of  Mede  and  Lowman,  he  rather 
cuts  through,  than  answers.  "  The  Church,"  Fays  he,  "  brings  forth,  and  chiefly  in 
the  end  of  the  world  will  bring  forth,  a  masculine  off'spring  to  Christ,  that  is  the  faith- 
ful" This  however  by  no  means  meets  the  question.  The  point  K,\i  the  man-child 
denote  the  ivhole  body  of  the  faithful,  why  is  he  said  to  be  born  at  one  era  rather  than 
at  another  ?  The  prophecy  does  not  represent  the  ivoman  as  incessantly  bringing 
him  forth.  I  once  thought,  that  the  man-child  or  the  mystic  Christ  might  denote  the 
ivord  nf  God,  both  Chi-isi  and  the  Scriptures  being  equally  SO  denominated  by  a  con- 
version of  terms  not  unusual  among  the  sacred  writers  ;  and  I  bestowed  some  la- 
bour upon  an  attempt  to  prove  this  point :  but  I  wholly  failed  of  success,  and  I 
iim  convinced  that  such  an  exposition  is  altogether  utenable. 


6'J 

Was  cast  out,  that  old  serpent,  called  the  devil  and  Satan, 
which  deceiveth  the  whole  world  :  he  was  cast  out  into 
the  earth,  and  his  angels  were  cast  out  with  him.  And 
1  heard  a  loud  voice  saying  in  heaven,  Now  is  come  sal- 
vation, and  strength,  and  the  kingdom  of  our  God,  and 
the  power  of  his  Christ  :  for  the  accuser  of  our  breth- 
ren is  cast  down,  which  accused  them  before  our  God 
day  and  night.  And  they  overcame  him  by  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb,  and  by  the  word  of  their  testimony  ;  and 
they  loved  not  their  lives  unto  death.  Therefore  rejoice, 
ye  heavens,  and  ye  that  dwell  in  them.  Woe  to  the  in- 
habiters  of  the  earth  and  the  sea  !  for  the  devil  is  come 
down  unto  you,  having  great  wrath,  because  he  knoweth 
that  he  hath  but  a  short  time. 

"  And,  when  the  dragon  saw,  that  he  was  cast  unto 
the  earth,  he  (still)  persecuted  the  woman,  which 
brought  forth  the  man-child.  (Now  to  the  woman  were 
given  two  wings  of  a  great  eagle,*  that  she  might  fly 
into  the  wilderness,  into  her  place,  where  she  is  nourish- 
ed for  a  time,  and  times,  and  half  a  time,  from  the  face 
of  the  serpent.)  And  the  serpent  cast  out  of  his  mouth 
water  as  a  flood  after  the  woman,  that  he  might  cause 
her  to  be  carried  away  of  the  flood.  And  the  earth  help- 
ed the  woman  ;  and  the  earth  opened  her  mouth,  and 
swallowed  up  the  flood  which  the  dragon  cast  out  of  his 
mouth.  And  the  dragon  was  wroth  with  the  woman, 
and  went  to  make  war  with  the  remnant  of  her  seed, 
which  keep  the  commandments  of  God,  and  have  the 
testimony  of  Jesus  Christ.'' 

Throughout  the  vi'hole  of  the  present  prophecy,  we 
cannot  too  attentively  keep  in  mind,  that  the  dragon  is 
neither  the  Roman  empire  nor  the  Pope^  although  the  in- 
stigator of  them  both,  but  simply  the  devil :  for  this 
clear  discrimination  of  character,  which  the  Apostle 
anxiously  as  it  were  insists  upon,  will  alone  lead  us  to  a 

*  This  idea  is  manifestly  taken  from  that  of  Exodus,  wherein  the  sojourn  of  the 
Israeliu-s  in  the  ivildeniess,  from  the  face  of  the  Egyptians,  is  described  precisely  in 
the  same  mangier  as  the  sojourn  of  the  -woman  in  the  spiritual  ivilderness,  from  the  face 
of  the  serpent.  "  Ye  have  seen  what  I  did  unto  the  Egyptians  :  and  how  I  bare  you 
on  eagle's  -wings,  and  brought  you  unto  myself"  (Exod.  xix.  4.)  Bp.  Newton, 
agreeably  to  the  plan  of  interpretation  upon  which  he  set  out,  and  which  I  cannot 
but  think  wrong,  seems  to  imagine,  that,  the  eagle  being  the  Roman  ensign,  the  five 
■zvings  may  allude  to  the  Emtern  and  Pfestern  empires. 


64? 

right  understanding  of  what   is  meant  by  his  full  from 
heaven  to  eaith.     So  long  as   Saian    found   an  aposrate 
Church  a  convenient  engine  for  persecuting  the  faithful 
followers  of  Christ,  just  so  long  he  continued  in  it :   but, 
when  the   age  of  superstition  and  ecclesiastical  tyranny 
was  past  ;   when  the   papal  thunders  were  no  longer  re- 
garded ;  and  when  he  found,  that  tlte  tzco   loitne-sses  as- 
cended   up   into   heaven,   not  only   in  Gcrmani/^  but  in 
Britain,  Sioeden,  and  Denmark,   in  despite  of  all  his  at- 
tempts to  prevent   them  :   then  it  became  time  for  him 
to  quit  his  ancient  station,  and  to  seek  some  more  con- 
venient  battery  against  flie  symbolical  icoman.     Driven 
from  heaven  or  the  Church,  and  finding  that  he  could  no 
longer  execute  his  gigantic  plans  of  mischief  through  the 
instrumentality  of  the  Papacij,  he   next   took    his  stand 
upon  the  earth,  and  again  renewed  his  attacks  upon  the 
woman  and  her  inifstic  offspring  with  more  virulence  than 
ever.     Not  but  that  he  still  retained   his  influence  over 
the  apostatical  fieaven,   and   over   many  of  those  stars 
whom   his   long-fostered  superstition   had  cast  down  to 
tfie  ground  :   but  the  Roman  church  was  henceforth  only 
an  inferior  consideration  with  him  :   like  a  worn  out  in- 
strument,  its  blows   were  not  now  attended  with  their 
former  effects  :  a  neio  station  must  be  assumed,  whence 
in  an  age  of  literature  and  refinement  the  woman  and  the 
remnant  of  her  seed  might  be   assailed  with    a  greater 
probability  of  victory.     This  station,   we   learn  from  the 
prophet,   was   the  earth,   or  tfie  secular  Roman  empire. 
Satan,   no  longer  arrayed   Wean  angel  of  light,  like   a 
■minister  of  the  Cfiurcfi  of  Christ,  now  assumed  the  garb 
of  humanitij,   hberalitif,  candour,   and   philosophi/  :  and 
prepared   to  vomit  forth  from  the  dark  dens  of  atheism 
and  infidelity  that  food,  with   which  he   hoped  to  carry 
away  his  enemy. 

Flectere  si  nequeo  superos,  Acheronta  movebo. 

From  this  general  statement,  I  shall  descend  to  par- 
ticidars.  The  war  between  Micliael  and  the  dragon  does 
not,  I  apprehend,  relate  exclusivelij  to  the  war  betzoeeu 
the  wit?iesses  and  the  beast,  mentioned  in  the  preceding 
chapter^  although  it  doubtless  comprehends  it  as  a  part 


iP 


65 

of  one  great  whole.  The  difference  between  them  is 
suificiently  striking  to  justify  this  supposition.  Theivar 
of  the  loitnesses  took  place  in  only  ojie  particular  street 
of  the  great  city.  The  Kvar  of  Michael  was  carried  on 
in  the  Church  general.  The  loar  of  the  voitnesses  was 
fought  upon  earth  :  whence  we  may  conclude,  that  it 
was  not  only  a  spiritual  one.,  as  being  fought  bif  the  wit- 
nesses ;  but  also  a  literal  one,  like  those  of  the  Saracenic 
locusts  and  Turkish  horsemen,  as  being  fought  upon  earthy 
and  with  a  material  enemy,  the  last  head  of  the  beast. 
The  zvar  of  Michael  was  fought  in  heaven;  and  the 
weapons  of  his  soldiers  were,  not  carnal,  but  spiritual  ; 
for  they  overcame  the  dragon  "  by  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb,  and  by  the  zeord  of  their  testimony,  and  they  loved 
not  their  lives  unto  death."  This  second  war  therefore 
comprehends  the  spiritual,  though  not  the  literal,  part  of 
the  former  ivar  oj  the  witnesses.  It  was  not,  like  the 
first,  begun  and  ended  within  the  space  of  a  few  years  : 
but  it  was  a  long-continued  struggle  between  the  powers 
of  light,  and  the  powers  of  darkness.  It  commenced 
with  the  Apostacy  itself :  it  raged  with  dreadful  fury  in 
the  age  of  the  Waldenses  and  Albigenses  :  it  issued  in  a 
signal  victory  at  the  time  ot^  the  reformation,  the  victory 
here  celebrated  by  the  prophet  :  but  it  will  continue, 
zvith  abated  violence,  even  after  Satan  has  chosen  a  dif- 
ferent and  more  formidable  station,  to  the  very  end  of 
the  1260  years ;  for,  throughout  the  whole  of  this  peri- 
od, are  the  saints  to  be  given  into  the  hand  of  the  papal 
horn,  and  the  witnesses  to  prophesy  in  sackcloth.  At 
the  era  o{  the  reformation  then,  the  great  victory  of  Mi- 
chael over  the  dragon  was  achieved.  Then  it  was,  that 
"  salvation,  and  strength,  and  the  kingdom  of  our  God, 
and  the  power  of  his  Christ,"  were  manifested.  Then 
it  was,  that  "  the  accuser  of  our  brethren  was  cast  down, 
which  accused  them  before  our  God,  day  and  night," 
of  the  very  same  crimes  which  he  had  heretofore  alledg- 
ed  against  the  primitive  martyrs  and  confessors  ;  promis- 
cuous fornication,  infanticide,  and  even  bestiality.  Then 
it  was,  that  "  the  heavens,  and  they  that  dwell  in  them," 
were  called  upon  to  rejoice  ;  heavens,  because  the  boast■^ 
ed  Catholicism  of  the  Bofnan  heaven  was  now  annihilated, 

VOL.    II.  9 


06 

and  ma/uj  reformed  heavens  o'c  churches  were  established, 
diifering  indeed  unhappily  in  ecclesiastical  polity,  but 
holding  one  head  even  Christ.  And  then  it  was,  that  a 
woe  was  proleptically  denounced  against  "the  intiabiters 
of  the  earfh"  or  the  papal  Roman  empire  in  general^  and 
"  of  the  sea^^  or  apart  of  it  lohicli  was  sliortli]  to  be  cuu- 
vulsed  bif  revolution  in  particular  ;  even  that  third  woe^ 
which  was  to  be  so  much  more  tremendous  than  either 
of  its  tzt'o  predecessors  :  "  for  the  devil  had  come  down 
unto  them,  having  great  wrath,  because  he  knoweth  that 
he  hath  but  a  short  timeT  He  had  manij  years  reigned 
triumphant  in  the  Church  under  (he  first  and  second  woes, 
during  the  long  period  oi  the  latter  dai/s,  during  the  age 
of  superstition  and  idolatry  ;  but  his  iinal  great  attempt 
to  destroy  the  woman  under  the  third  woe^  during  the  pe- 
riod of  the  last  da/js,  during  the  age  of  atheism  and  pro- 
fane mockery,  is  to  be  comparatively  only  a  short  time. 
He  was  cast  indeed  from  heaven  under  the  second  woe  : 
but  his  peculiar  time,  the  short  time  alluded  to  by  the 
Apostle,  commenced  with  the  sounding  of  the  third  woe- 
trumpet.  For  this  last  great  woe  he  had  been  diligently 
preparing,  ever  since  his  signal  defeat  by  Michael  and 
his  angels  :  but  his  scheme  was  not  ripe  for  execution, 
till  the  blast  of  the  seventh  trumpet  gave  the  signal  for 
the  open  developement  of  infernal  anarchy,  and  undis- 
guised hostility  to  the  God  of  heaven.  The  seventh 
trumpet.,  as  we  have  seen,  began  to  sound  on  the  l'2th  of 
August  in  the  year  1792,  immediately  after  the  last  shock 
of  the  earthquake  on  the  lOth  of  August.,  when  the 
Trench  revolution  may  be  considered  as  accomplished. 
Now,  supposing  the  Apostacij  to  have  commenced  in  the 
year  606,  it  will  be  evident,  that  of  the  1260  years  only 
74  remained  unelapsed  in  the  year  1792  :  consequently 
Satan  had  but  a  very  short  time  for  the  accomplishment 
of  his  last  plan.,  compared  with  the  preceding  centuries  of 
his  sway  in  the  church  of  Rome. 

In  order  the  more  fully  to  perceive  the  exact  fulfil- 
ment of  the  prophecy  now  under  consideration,  it  will 
be  proper  to  trace  the  steps  of  the  dragon,  after  he  was 
cast  out  of  heaven,  and  before  the  complete  revelation  of 
Antichrist  took  place  under  the  third  woe-trumpet. 


67 

At  the  revival  of  letters  in  Europe,  the  first  discovery, 
that  was  made,  was  that  of  the  multifarious  absurdities 
maintained  hy  the  Church  of  Rome.  These  had  long 
been  held  up  to  the  world  as  the  essentials  of  Christian- 
ity;  and  every  impugner  of  them  had  been  treated  as  a 
heretic.  The  consequence  was,  that  the  mummeries  of 
Poperij  were  charged  upon  the  Gospel :  and,  because 
they  were  evidently  ridiculous  superstitions,  it  was 
thought  to  be  ridiculous  superstition  likewise.  Hence 
arose  scepticism  ;  which  the  subtle  enemy  of  mankind 
soon  matured  into  infidelity,  and  even  into  atheism. 

The  prophecy  teaches  us,  that,  when  the  dragon  quit- 
ted heave?!.,  he  retired  to  the  earth,  and  the  sea :  and  his- 
tory testifies,  that  it  was  not  long,  ere  the  fruits  of  his 
labours  were  abundantly  evident  in  France,  Germam/^ 
and  Ita/f/.  "  It  is  certain,"  says  Mosheim,  "  that  in  the 
sixteenth  century  there  lay  concealed  in  different  parts  of 
Europe  several  persons,  who  entertained  a  virulent  en- 
mity against  religion  in  general,  and  in  a  more  especial 
manner  against  the  religion  of  the  Gospel  ;  and  who, 
both  in  their  writings  and  in  their  private  conversation, 
sowed  the  seeds  of  impiety  and  error,  and  instilled  their 
odious  principles  into  weak  and  credulous  minds.  It 
is  even  reported,  that  in  certain  provinces  o^  France  and 
Italy,  schools  were  erected,  whence  these  impious  doc- 
trines issued."*  These  continental  infidels  may  be  con- 
sidered as  the  real  fathers  of  our  English  free-thinkers. 
Accordingly  "  the  histories  of  those  times  bear  witness, 
that  our  English  youth,  who  travelled  even  so  early  as 
the  reign  of  James  the  First,  returned  too  often  with  the 
seeds  of  vice  and  infidelity,  which  they  gathered  with 
the  knowledge  and  the  manners  of  more  polished  coun- 
tries :  and  the  court  of  Charles  the  second  displays,  in  a 
very  striking  manner,  the  principles  and  habits,  which 
the  King  and  his  Nobles  had  learned  upon  the  continent, 

*  It  is  probable,  that  from  some  one  of  these  secret  schools  proceeded  the  famous 
pamphlet  of  the  three  impostors,  meaning  Moses,  Christ,  and  Mohammed :  if  indeed 
there  ever  were  such  a  pamphlet.  Infidelity  prevailed  even  among  the  Popes  them- 
selves;  as  if,  disgusted  with  the  absurdities  of  the  very  superstition  which  was  so 
profitable  to  them,  they  had  sought  refuge  in  the  bosom  of  atheism.  The  blasphe? 
my  of  Leo  the  tenth  is  well  known.  "  This  fable  of  Jesus  Christ,"  said  he  to  Car- 
dinal Bembo,  "  hath  done  us  good  service."  According  to  the  Romanists,  every  Pops 
is  infallible  :  what  sectimcnts  will  thev  entertain  of  Leo  ? 


68 

The  general  detestation  of  the  hypocrisy  and  fanaticism 
of  the  Puritans  tended  to  heighten  their  irreligion,  and 
encouraged  them  to  publish  their  opinions  :  but  the 
kingdom  at  large  was  not  infected  by  them  ;  and  the 
following  reigns  exhibit  in  every  rank  of  people  an  at- 
tachment to  religion,  and  a  zeal  in  its  cause,  which  the 
annals  of  no  other  nation  can  furnish."* 

For  a  considerable  length  of  time  however,  infidelity 
was  confined  to  the  higher  and  the  literary  orders  ;  the 
humble  and  unambitious  Christian  was  happily  placed 
without  the  sphere  of  its  influence.  The  project  oi  the 
ivily  serpent  was  as  yet  in  its  infancy  :  and  little  did  those 
nobles,  who  encouraged  it,  imagme,  that  they  were  un- 
warily helping  to  construct  an  engine  destined  for  their 
own  destruction.  But,  as  the  period  of  flie  third  woe- 
trumpet  approached,  Satan  took  at  once  both  a  wider  and 
more  systematic  range.  Infidelity  was  diffused  in  a  man- 
ner unknown  in  any  former  age.  No  class  of  society 
was  exempt  from  its  poison.  Publications,  adapted  to 
the  comprehension  of  the  lower  orders,  were  zealously 
distributed  throughout  every  country  in  Europe  by  the 
secret  clubs  of  the  illuminated  :  and,  as  a  mind  unused 
to  argument,  can  readily  see  an  objection,  without  being 
able  accurately  to  follow  the  train  of  reasoning  which 
pervades  the  confutation  of  it,  a  captious  doubt,  once  in- 
jected into  the  head  of  a  poor  and  illiterate  man,  can 
scarcely  ever  be  removed  even  by  the  clearest  demon- 
stration of  the  evidences  of  Christianity. f     Impudent  as- 

-■'■  Hist,  the  Inter.  Vol.  II.  p.  135. 

f  A  learned  and  much  revered  friend  of  mine,  (the  Rev.  R.  Hudson,  A.  M.  head- 
master of  the  Grammar  school  at  Hipperholme,)  some  time  since  put  into  my  hands 
a  small  tract,  which  was  industriously  circulated  in  his  neighbourhood.  It  was  re- 
plete wth  a  variety  of  quibbling  questions,  which  the  merest  sciolist  in  theology 
would  find  little  difficulty  in  answering,  but  which  were  perfectly  well  adapted  to 
puzzle  the  intellect  of  a  plain  unsuspecting  labourer.  In  order  to  avoid  the  neces- 
sity of  annexing  the  printer  s  name  to  a  publication,  it  v/as  ingeniotisly  ante-dated. 
"  It  was  by  small  tracts  of  this  sort,"  says  the  present  worthy  Bishop  of  London, 
"  disseminated  among  the  lower  orders  in  every  part  of  France,  that  the  great  body 
of  the  people  there  was  prepared  for  that  most  astonishing  event  ("which,  without 
such  preparation,  could  never  have  been  so  suddenly  and  so  generally  brought 
about),  the  pubhc  renunciation  of  the  Christian  Faith.  In  order  to  produce  the 
very  same  efFects  here,  and  to  pave  the  way  for  a  general  apostacy  from  the  Gospel, 
by  contaminating  the  principles  and  shaking  the  faith  of  the  inferior  classes  of  the 
people,  the  same  arts  have  been  employed,  the  same  breviates  of  infidelity  have, 
to  my  knowledge,  been  published  and  dispersed  with  great  activity,  and  at  a  con- 


69 

•  ••• •      * 

sertion  now  occupied  the  place  of  proof:  and  a  convic- 
tion t»f  false  representation  was  little  regarded  by  those, 
whose  object  was  to  disseminate  error,  and  who  had  reg- 
ularly calculated  that  an  atheistical  publication  would 
be  read  by  many  that  would  probably  never  see  the  an- 
swer to  it.  Formerly  infidelity  was  conveyed  in  the  shape 
of  a  professed  treatise  ;  and  they,  who  chose  to  peruse 
it,  were  at  least  aware  of  what  they  might  expect.  Hence 
a  careful  Christian  parent  knew  how  to  secure  his  inex- 
perienced offspring  from  the  effects  of  its  poison.  But 
now^  there  is  scarcely  a  book  which  he  dares  to  trust  ia 
the  handsof  his  children,  without  first  thoroughly  examin- 
ing it  himself:  and,  even  after  a'i  his  precautions,  his  son 
may  accidentally  take  up  a  treatise  on  botany  or  geo/o<ry^ 
and  rise  from  the  perusal  of  it,  if  not  an  infidel,  yet  a  scep- 
tic. In  short,  the  lurking  poison  of  unbelief  has  of  late 
years  been  "served  up  in  every  shape,  that  is  likely  to 
allure,  surprise,  or  beguile,  the  imagination  ;  in  a  fable, 
a  tale,  a  novel,  a  poem  ;  in  interspersed  and  broken  hints  ; 
remote  and  oblique  surmises  ;  in  books  of  travels,  of 
philosophy,  of  natural  history  ;  in  a  word,  in  any  form 
rather  than  that  of  a  professed  and  regular  disquisi- 
tion."* 

The  sure  word  of  prophecy  has  taught  us  where  to  look 
for  the  re«/ origin  of  these  infernal  productions.  "  Woe  to 
,the  inhabiters  of  the  earth  and  of  the  sea  !  for  the  devil  is 
comedown  untoyou,havinggreat  wrath, because  heknow- 
eth  that  he  hath  but  a  short  time."  It  has  done  more.  It 
has  explicitly  described  to  us  the  character  of  those  aban- 
doned men,  those  hardened  scoffers,  whom  Satan  was  about 
to  employ  as  his  wretched  tools  in  the  last  daijs.\  The 
existence  of  such  men  we  have  witnessed  with  our  own 
eyes  :  but,  till  lately,  we  were  not  aware  of  their  exist- 
ence in  any  other  than  their  mere  individual  capacity. 
We  have  at  present  however  upon  record  the  confession 
of  an  arch-atheist,  that  there  has  long  been  in  Europe, 

siderable  expence,  among  the  middling  and  Sower  classes  of  men  in  tlais  kingdom." 
Charge  1794. 

*   Paley's  Moral  Philosophy. 

f  See  the  prophecies  relative  to  the  last  times  collected  together  in  the  third  chapter 
if  this  Work. 


70 

particularly  in  papal  Europe,  a  systematic  combination  of 
the  scoffers  of  the  last  claijs  for  the  purpose  of  at  once 
overturning  the  throne  and  the  altar,  of  letting  loose  at 
once  those  two  dogs  of  hell  anarchy  and  atheism. 

"  There  was  a  class  of  men,"  says  the  notorious  Con- 
dorcet,  "  which  was  soon  formed  in  Europe,  with  a  view, 
not  so  much  to  discover  and  make  deep  research  after 
truth,  as  to  diffuse  it  :  whose  chief  object  was  to  attack 
prejudices  in  the  very  asylums,  where  the  clergy,  the 
schools,  the  governments,  and  the  ancient  corporations, 
had  received  and  protected  them  :  and  who  made  their 
glory  to  consist  rather  in  destroying  popular  error,  than 
in  extending  the  limits  of  human  knowledge.  This> 
though  an  indirect  method  of  forwarding  its  progress,  was 
not,  on  that  account,  either  less  dangerous  or  less  useful. 
In  England,  Collins  and  Bolingbroke  ;  in  France,  Bayle, 
Fontenelie,  Voltaire,  ^ionies(\u\eu,^\\^  the  schools  J'orm- 
ed  by  these  men  ;  combated  in  ftivour  of  truth.*  They 
alternately  employed  all  the  arms,  with  which  learning 
and  philosophy,  with  which  wit  and  the  talent  of  writ- 
ing could  furnish  them.  Assuming  every  tone,  taking 
every  shape,  from  the  ludicrous  to  the  pathetic, yro;«r  the 
most  learned  and  extensive  compilation  to  the  novel  or  the 
petty  pamphlet  of  the  day  ;  covering  truth  with  a  veil^ 
which,  sparing  the  eye  that  zaas  too  zaeak  to  hear  it,  left 
to  the  reader  the  pleasure  of  guessing  it  ;  insidiously  ca- 
ressing prejudices  in  order  to  strike  at  them  zvith  more 
certainty  and  effect ;  seldom  menacing  more  than  one  at 
a  time,  and  that  only  in  part ;  sometimes  soothing  the  ene- 
mies of  reason,  by  seeming  to  ask  but  for  a  half  toleration 
in  religion,  or  a  half  liberty  in  polity ;  respecting  despotism 
when  they  combated  religious  absurdities,  and  religion  ichen 
they  attached  tyranny  :  combating  these  two  pests  in  their 
very  principles,  though  apparently  inveighing  against  ri- 
diculous and  disgusting  abuses  ;  striking  at  the  root  of 
those  pestiferous  trees,  whilst  they  appeared  only  to  wish 
to  lop  the  straggling  branches  ;  at  one  time  pointing  out 
superstition,  which  covers  despotism  with  its  impenetrable 

*  what  the  truth  was,  for  which  Voltaire  combated,  a  long  life  laboriously  spent 
ill  the  service  of  a  hard  task-master  has  amply  shewn  ;  and  France  has  no  less  am- 
p!v  tasted  the  fr.uits  of  it. 


71 

shield^  to  the  friends  of  liberty^  as  thefrst  victim  di'/iich 
they  are  to  immolate^  the  jirst  chain  to  he  cleft  asunder  ; 
at  another  denouncing  superstition  to  despots  as  the  real 
enenii/  of  their  po'd^er^  and  alarming  them  with  a  repre- 
sentation of  its  hifpocritical  plots  and  sanguinarij  rage ;  but 
never  ceasing  to  claim  the  independence  of  reason,  and 
the  lihertij  of  the  press,  as  the  right  and  safegaurd  of 
mankind  ;  invei^hing^  with  enthusiastic  eners^v  aoainst 
the  crimes  of  fanaticism  and  tyranny;  reprobating  every 
thing  which  bore  the  character  of  oppression,  harshness, 
or  barbarity,  whether  in  religion,  administration,  morals, 
or  laws  ;  commanding  kings,  warriors,  priests,  and  mag- 
istrates, in  the  name  of  nature,  to  spare  the  blood  of 
men  ;  reproaching  them,  in  a  strain  of  the  most  energe- 
tic severity,  with  that  which  their  policy  or  inditFerence 
prodigally  lavished  on  the  scaffold,  or  in  the  field  of  bat- 
tle ;  in  fne,  adopting  the  Ziords  reason,  toleration,  and 
humanity,  as  their  signal  and  call  to  arms.  Such  was  the 
modern  philosophy,  so  much  detested  by  those  numer- 
ous classes  which  exist  only  by  the  aid  of  prejudices. 
Its  chiefs  had  the  art  of  escaping  vengeance,  while  they 
exposed  themselves  to  hatred  ;  of  concealing  themselves 
from  persecution,  while  they  made  themselves  sufficient- 
ly conspicuous  to  lose  nothing  of  their  glory /^* 

In  order  as  it  were  that  the  meaning  of  this  rhapsody 
may  not  possibly  be  mistaken,  the  same  Condorcet  plain- 
ly tells  us,  what  effects  this  sort  of  truth,  propagated  b}' 
Voltaire,  did  produce.  Celebrating  the  glories  and  ben- 
efits of  the  French  revolution,  he  observes,  "  that  it 
would  have  been  impossible  to  sh»jw  in  a  clearer  light 
the  eternal  obligations  which  human  nature  has  to  Vol- 
taire. Circumstances  were  favourable.  He  did  not 
foresee  all  that  he  has  done,  but  he  has  done  all  that  ^e 
now  see."'\  In  order  moreover,  that  we  may  not  too 
candidly  fancy,  that  Voltaire's  zeal  was  onltj  directed 
against  the  abuses  of  Popery,  while  he  respecXed  gemdtie 
Christianity,  he  himself  unequivocally  informs  us,   that 

*  Cited  by  Kett  from  EsquUs:  (fun  tableau  bhtorique  des  provres  di  V esprit  bumain, 
par  Condorcet.  For  the  original,  see  the  Annual  Register,  d.  200  ;  for  the  extract, 
Barruel's  Mem.  of  Jacobinism,  Vol.  ii.  p.  133. 

t  L'fi  of  Vtltiin,  cited  bj  Kett. 


72 

the  very  Gospel  of  the  Messiah,  whether  embraced  by 
protestants  or  papists,  was  the  real  object  of  his  animosi- 
ty.* "  1  am  weary,"  says  the  pseudo-philosopher  of 
Ferney,  "  of  hearing  people  repeat,  that  twelve  men  have 
been  sufficient  to  establish  Christianity  :  and  I  will  prove, 
that  one  may  suffice  to  overthrow  it — Strike,  but  conceal 
your  hand — The  mysteries  of  Mithras  are  not  to  be  di- 
vulged :  the  monster  must  fall  pierced  by  a  thousand  m- 
vlsihle  hands  :  yes,  let  it  fall  beneath  a  thousand  repeat- 
ed blows — 1  fear  you  are  not  sufficiently  zealous  ;  you 
bury  your  talents  ;  you  seem  only  to  contemn,  whilst 
you  should  abhor  and  destroij  the  monster — Crush  the 
wretch." 

By  the  incessant  labours  of  Voltaire,  his  diabolical 
principles,  even  before  the  foundation  of  Weishaupt's 
order  of  the  Illuminated,  were  protected  by  the  sovereigns 
of  Russia,  Poland,  and  Prussia,  and  by  an  innumerable 
host  of  Landgraves,  Margraves,  Dukes,  and  Princes. 
They  had  penetrated  into  Bohemia,  Austria,  Spain, 
Sz<Ditzerla7id,  and  Italij.  They  had  many  zealous  advo- 
cates in  England  :  they  had  thoroughly  impregnated 
France  :  and,  in  short,  had  more  or  less  pervaded  the 
xvhole  Roman  earth,  where  the  dragon  had  now  taken  his 
station  after  his  expulsion  from  the  symbolical  heaven. 

It  is  not  however  perfectly  ascertained,  that  Voltaire 
wished  for  more  than  the  overthrow  of  religion  and  roy- 
aliij.  Proud  of  his  talents,  he  at  first  "  did  not  pretend 
to  enlighten  housemaids  and  shoemakers,  equally  con- 
temning the  rabble,  whether  for  or  against  him  :"  but, 
after  the  German  union,  a  yet  more  extensive  plan  of 
mischief  was  resolved  upon.  The  infernal  ingenuity  of 
Weishaupt  contrived  a  method  of  subverting  not  only 
religion  and  roijaltij,  but  all  governments  whatsoever  : 
and  .jacobinism,  that  consummation  of  united  German 
and  French  villanv,  proposed  to  set  mankind  free  from 
even/  restraint  both  of  human  and  divine  law,  and  to  let 
them  loose  like  wild  beasts  upon  each  other,  an  infuri- 
ated herd  of  anarchists  and  atheists. 

*  The  reader  will  have  observed,  that,  in  one  of  tlie  clauses  of  the  foregoing  de- 
clamation of  Condorcet,  religion  is  used  as  the  synonym  of  religious  ahsurditia  ;  and 
government  and  religion  arc  declared  to  be  the  tivo  pests,  which  the  new  philosophy 
combats  in  their  "Very  principles. 


73 

in  this  manner  it  was,  that  the  dragon^  quitting  heai)e.n 
for  earthy  and  "  having  great  wrath  because  he  knoweth 
that  he  hath  but  a  short  time,"  prepared  to  vomit  against 
t/ie  symbolical  woman  a  noisome  Jlood  of  mock  philoso- 
phers, German  and  French,  illuminated  and  masonic, 
"  with  all  their  trumpery  ;"  of  philanthropic  cut-throats, 
civic  thieves,  humane  anarchists,  and  candid  atheists  ; 
of  high-born  Catilines,  and  low-born  buffoons  ;*  of  en- 
lightened prostitutes,  and  revolutionary  poHticians  ;  of 
popish  priests,  and  protestant  ecclesiastics,  united  only 
by  the  common  bonds  of  apostate  profligacy  ;  of  Jews, 
Turks, 'I'  infidels,  and  heretics  ;  of  the  catharmata  of  the 
prisons  of  Lyons  and  Paris,  wretches  who,  escaping  the 
just  sentence  of  the  law,  commenced  the  reformers  of 
the  world  ;  in  short,  oftt//the  filth  and  offscouring  of 
o// the  kennels  of  «//  the  streets  oi  the  great  mystical 
city  Babijlon.  At  the  sounding  of  the  third  woe-trumpet, 
thejfood  was  at  its  height ;  and  threatened  to  carry  away 
in  wild  indiscriminate  confusion  every  thing  sacred  and 
venerable,  every  thing  salutary  and  dignified,  everything 
wise,  every  thing  lovely,  every  thing  that  adorns  this  life, 
every  thing  that  fits  us  for  a  better  life.  Woe  to  the 
inhabiters  of  the  Roman  earth  ;  for  the  scourge  of  an 
unheard  of  war  impends  over  their  devoted  heads  !  Woe 
to  those  that  flounder  in  the  miry  waves  of  "  the  vastif 
deep^"  the  turbid  sea  of  republican  uproar  "  foaming 
out  its  own  shame  ;"  for  the  darkened  sky  portends  a 
tempest  of  strange  miseries  hitherto  unthoughtof !  Shc/rt 
was  the  time  that  elapsed  between  the  great  earthquake 
and  the  blast  of  the  seventh  angel^  when  revolutionary 
France^  in  the  phrenzy  of  democratic  enthusiasm,  estab- 
lished atheism  and  anarchij  by  law  ;  held  out  the  right 
hand  of  fellowship  to  the  insurgents  of  every  nation  ; 
commenced  a  tremendous  massacre  of  her  enslaved  citi- 
zens ;  proclaimed  the  Son  of  God  to  be  an  impostor,  and 

*  During  the  French  revolution,  a  comedian^  dressed  as  a  "  priest  of  the  Illuminati, 
publicly  appeared,  personally  attacking  Almighty  God,  saying,  No,  thau  dost  not  exist. 
If  thou  hast  poiver  over  the  thunder-bolts,  graip  them,  aim  them  at  the  man  ivho  dares  set 
ihet  at  defiance  in  the  face  of  thy  altars.  But  no,  I  blaspheme  thee,  and  1  still  litie  ;  no, thou  dost 
not  exiit."  (Barruel's  Mem.  of  Jacobinism,  Vol.  iii.  p.  217.)  To  the  catalogue  Of 
low-born  buffoons  Mr.  Thomas  Paine  may  with  much  propriety  be  added. 

I  See  Hist,  the  Interp.  Vol.  ii.  p.  2<37. 
VOL.   II.  10 


his  Gospel  a  forgery  ;  swore  to  exterminate  Christianitij 
and  roijuUij  from  off  the  face  of  the  earth,  as  she  uad 
blotted  them  both  out  of  her  own  dominions  ;  auci  madly 
unsheathed  the  sword  a^^ainst  every  resfularlv  esiahiislied 
government.  But  the  Church  of  the  Lord  is  founded 
upon  a  rock  ;  and  he  hath  promised,  that  ■■'  the  gatts  of 
hell  shall  never  prevail  against  it/'  Although  "'  the  hea- 
then rage,  and  the  people  imagine  a  lie  ;"  although  the 
destroyers  of  the  earth  "  set  themselves  in  array,  and  the 
rulers  take  counsel  together  agamst  Jehovah,  and  against 
his  anointed  ;  Let  us  break  their  bands  asunder^  and  cast 
aivaij  their  cords  from  us  ;"  yet  "  he,  that  sitteth  in  the 
heavens  shall  laugh  ;  the  Lord  shall  have  them  in  deri- 
sion." Congregated  Europe,  so  God  willed,  met  the  infi- 
dels in  arms.  Long  and  bloody  was  the  contest ;  for  the 
iL'hole  "  earth  helped  the  n'oman.'"  Yet,  notwithstand- 
ing the  various  successes  of  the  atheistical  republic,  when 
the  general  pacification  took  place  in  the  tjear  1801,  the 
earth  had  swallowed  up  thejiood^  which  the  dragon  cast 
out  of  his  mouth.  A  trial  had  been  made  of  modern 
philosophy  ;  and  even  French  vanity  was  compelled  to 
own,  that  this  its  favourite  child,  however  beautiful  in 
theory,  was  but  ill  calculated  for  practice.  Atheism  was 
displaced  from  his  throne,  and  Christianitij^  the  apostate 
Christianitij  indeed  of  the  Church  of  Rome^  was  nomi- 
nally at  least  restored.  This,  although  an  unwilling 
homage  paid  to  religion,  was  nevertheless  not  the  tri- 
umph oi  the  mystic  looman.  For  that  triumph  we  must 
look  to  reformed  countries  ;  and  in  a  peculiar  manner,  I 
apprehend,  to  Britain  and  her  virtuous  sovereign.  Here 
the  raging  food  has  been  in  a  remarkable  manner  swal- 
lowed up.  Bursting  as  it  did  with  hellish  violence  over 
papal  Germanif^  Itahf^  and  Spain  ;  here  its  proud  waves, 
by  the  marvellous  interposition  of  Providence,  have  been 
stayed.  Superior  to  all  Europe,  France  was  unable  to 
break  the  single  strength  o{  England,  even  when  repub- 
lican artifices  had  banded  against  her  the  united  force  of 
Russia^  Szcedcn,  Denmark^  and  Spain ;  for  England  stay- 
ed herself  upon  her  God.  Adopting  her  Saviour's  rule 
of  judging  men  by  their  fruits,  she  perceived,  ere  long, 
that  modern  philosophy,  notwithstanding  its  high  preten- 


sions,  was  any  thing  but  /icaveu-horu.  In  this  favoured 
land  its  absurdities  have  been  more  ably  and  more  fully 
exposed  than  elsewhere.  Here  peculiarly  hath  the 
Scripture  been  accomplished,  that  the  scoffers  of  the  last 
daijs^  those  resisters  of  the  truth,  "  men  of  corrupt 
minds,  reprobate  concerning  the  faith,  should  proceed 
no  further  ;  for  their  folly  should  be  manifest  unto  all." 
Here  Christianity  is  still  as  little  likely  to  be  overthrown, 
as  it  was  before  Voltaire  and  his  miscreant  associates 
first  drew  the  breath  of  heaven.  Here  the  lajoman  is 
still  nourished  in  her  "  place  prepared  of  God,"  though 
surrounded  by  a  zvilderness  of  Poperij^  MoJiammedisniy 
and  Inndelitij.  Here  she  is  still  hoi  pen  "  from  the  face  of 
the  Serpe?it"  and  from  the  raging  waves  of  t/ie  fiood. 
Resolute  in  honouring  the  religion  of  Christ,  and  in  giv- 
ing glory  to  his  holy  name,  both  the  sovereign  and  the 
people  of  England  have  hitherto  been  enabled  firmly  and 
successfully  to  resist  alike  the  secret  artifices  and  open 
assaults  of  the  infernal  serpent. 

■'  And  the  dragon  was  wroth  with  the  woman  ;  and 
went  to  make  war  with  the  remnant  of  her  seed,  which 
keep  the  commandments  of  God,  and  have  the  testimony 
of  Jesus  Christ." 

We  are  repeatedly  informed  by  St.  John,  that  the  lit- 
tle book  extends  through  the  whole  period  of  the  1260 
daijs^  though  a  more  particular  account  of  the  last  times 
under  the  seventh  trumpet  is  reserved  for  the  prophecy 
that  immediately  succeeds  the  little  book.  Such  being 
the  case,  it  is  evident,  that  this  zi^ar  of  the  dragon  against 
the  woman^  being  mentioned  at  the  verif  end  of  the  whole 
history  of  the  dragon^s  machinations.,  will  take  place  at 
the  vert}  end  of  the  12(iO  daijs^  or,  as  Daniel  expresses  it, 
at  the  time  of  the  end.^  But,  if  it  take  place  at  the  time 
of  the  end^  it  must  be  the  same  as  the  expedition  of  the 
infidel  king  predicted  by  Daniel,  and  as  the  zcar  foretold 
by  St.  John  as  about  to  be  undertaken  by  a  confederacy 

*  I  have  already  observed,  that  the  four  chapters  of  the-  little  book  run  parallel  to 
one  another;  each  extending  from  the  hcginn'mg  to  the  end  ai  the  ivhole  1260  Jays. 
This  -u:ir  therefore  Icfivcen  the  dra<^on  and  the  ivonmn  will  svnchrcHlizc  with  some  part  of 
the  blast  rf  the  seventh  trumpet,  mentioned   in   the  preceding  chapter  :    in  Other  words,  it 

will  synchronize  with  some  one  of  the  seven  vials,  all  of  which  ari?  included  under 

the  seventh  trumpci; 


of  the  beast^  the  false  prophet^  and  the  ldng;s  of  the  Koman 
earthy  under  the  seierith  vial.  As  yet  tberefore  it  is  fu- 
ture. It  will  be  the  last  great  effort  of  Satan  against 
the  Church  previous  to  the  commencement  of  the  Mil- 
lennium ;  an  effort  made  by  his  two  agents,  Infidelitif 
and  Fopenj^  unnaturally  then  as  at  present  leagued  to- 
gether, to  oppress  the  fait  hj id  worshippers  of  God,  and 
to  prevent  the  restoration  of  the  converted  Jews  *  From 
the  declaration,  that  it  shall  be  a  war  against  ^/ze  remnant 
of  the  'dDoman''s  seed,  and  from  other  parallel  declarations,"]* 
1  think  we  may  infer,  that  it  will  be  a  sort  of  crusade  or 
holif  war  ;  a  war,  entered  upon  by  Infidelitif  and  Poperii, 
under  the  pretext  of  religion  and  under  a  pretence  of 
zeal  for  the  catholic  church,  against  those  that  have  come 
out  of  the  mystic  Babijlon,  and  have  refused  to  be  par- 
takers of  her  sins.  If  I  be  right  in  this  opinion,  the 
poioerful  protestant  kingdom  of  England  will  certainly 
be  one  of  the  principal  objects  against  which  the  wrath 
of  the  dragon  will  be  directed.  Her  courage  and  wis- 
dom have  long  been  the  main  instruments  under  God, 
of  confounding  all  his  measures,  and  of  frustrating  all 
his  attempts.  While  he  yet  reigned^  in  the  symbolical 
heaven,  she  was  his  grand  opponent,  and  thence  obtained 
the  glorious  title  of  the  bulwark  of  the  Reformation  : 
and  now  that  he  has  been  cast  out  into  the  earth,  she 
hath  still  proved  his  most  indefatigable  and  successful 
adversary,  blasting  his  schemes,  exposing  his  nefarious 
projects,  withering  the  arm  of  his  wretched  vassals,  and 
in  the  presence  of  the  enslaved  Roman  empire  bearding 
them  to  their  face  with  stern  defiance.  Hence  we  must 
expect,  that  his  almost  exclusive  rage  will  be  directed 
against  her.  The  end  however  is  not  yet.  This  war, 
professedly  undertaken  against  the  woman  and  the  rem- 
^ant  of  her  seed,  has  not  yet  commenced  :  and,  when 
it  does  commence,  whatever  temporary  and  partial  suc- 
cess may  attend  Antichrist  and  his  rebel  rout,  it  will 
eventually  and  speedily  terminate  in  their  confusion  and 
4Jtter  overthrow.  At  the  close  of  the  1260  days  the  dra- 
gon shall  begin  to  gather  together  by  secret  diabolical 

*  More  will  be  said  upon  this  subject  hereafter. 
I  Tliese  will  be  considered  in  a  future  chapter. 


i  i 


agency  the  beast ^  tlie  false  prophet,  and  the  kings  of  the 
papal  earth,  to  the  appointed  place  of  their  destruction 
at  Armageddon ;  and  shall  cause  his  minister  the  infidel 
tiirant,  then  become  the  avowed  champion  of  the  false 
prophet,  to  "  go  forth  with  great  fury  to  destroy,  and  re- 
Ugioushj  to  devote  to  extermination,  many."  But,  al- 
though he  shall  succeed  in  "  planting  the  curtains  of 
his  pavilions  between  the  seas  in  the  glorious  holy  moun- 
tain :"  yet  in  vain  shall  he  "  sanctify  war ;"  in  vain  shall  he 
assemble  his  enslaved  multitudes  against  that  miglitij  ma- 
ritime nation^  which  is  destined  to  take  the  lead  in  turning 
the  captivity  of  God's  ancient  people.  Unable  to  impede 
the  progress  of  those  "  swift  messengers"  of  the  Lord 
*'  unto  a  nation  dragged  away  and  plucked,  unto  a  people 
wonderful  from  their  beginning  hitherto,  a  nation  expect- 
ing, expecting,  and  trampled  underfoot,  whose  land"//^^ 
symbolical  "rivers"  of  foreign  invaders  "  have  spoiled  ;" 
unable  to  frustrate  the  least  of  the  high  purposes  of  Je- 
hovah, this  lawless  despiser  both  of  things  human  and 
things  divine  shall,  in  the  fatal  battle  of  Armageddon, 
"  come  to  his  end,  and  none  shall  help  him."*  Into  these 
yet  future  matters  however  we  must  not  dare  to  pry  be- 
yond xahat  is  expressli/  iivritten.  The  book  of  futurity  is 
as  yet  sealed  ;  and  who  shall  open  it  before  the  appoint- 
ed season  ?  \Ye  have  in  our  hands  the  prediction  of  the 
war  between  the  dragon  and  the  remaining  seed  of  the 
icoman.  We  have  it  in  strict  chronological  connection 
with  other  prophecies.  We  have  abundant  reason  to 
conclude,  that  this  war  will  commence  at  the  close  of  the 
1*260  daijs,  in  the  last  times  of  atheism  and  prof aneness. 
We  know,  that  it  must  commence  after  the  dragon  has 
been  cast  out  of  heaven  ;  after  he  has  taken  his  station 
upon  earth  ;  after  he  has  vomited  forth  6!/?ooaf  against  the 
7nystic  'woman ;  after  the  earth  has  swallowed  up  theflood; 
when  every  current  event  bears  testimony,  that  the  third 
woe-trumpet  is  sounding,  that  the  vials  of  the  last  plagues 

*  rhe  proposition,  that  some  great  maritime  anJ  commercial  nation  •v.'ill  be  -jcry  viucb 
.nncerned  in  bringirg  about  the  restoration  of  the  Je-zis,  is  admirably  proved  by  tlie  pres- 
ent Bp.  of  St.  Asaph,  in  his  letter  upon  the  \8th  chapter  of  Isaiah.  Whatever  degree  of 
i>robahility  there  might  be  in  the  conjecture,  liis  Lordship  docs  not  venture  to  assert, 
that  England  will  be  this  great  mariti/ne  and  commercial  naii-n  ,■  aod  hir  2'>rudent  reserve 
ppoa  thnt  point  I  cannot  do  better  than  imitate. 


78 

are  pouring  out,  and  that  Satan  is  come  down  to  the  in- 
habiters  of  the  earth  and  the  sea  having  great  wrath  ; 
and  u)hen  prophetic  truth  and  chronological  computation 
declare  with  united  voice,  that  "he  hath  but  a  short  time," 
that  the  period  of' the  great  Apostacij  is  nearly  expired. 
To  this  era,  thus  variously  pointed  out,  the  time  of  the 
end,  or  the  close  of  the  1260  daijs,  alone  corresponds  in 
every  particular.  May  we,  like  Daniel,  rest,  and  stand 
in  our  lot  at  the  end  of  the  days. 


jj* 


SECTION    III. 

Concerning  the  ten-horned  Least  of  the  sea. 

The  prophet,  after  having  conducted  us  as  it  were  be- 
hind the  scenes,  and  shewn  us  that  every  string  both  of 
the  great  Apostacif  and  of  the  tijranmj  of  Antichrist  is 
in  reality  worked  by  the  infernal  serpent,  next  proceeds 
to  bring  us  acquainted  with  the  characters  of  the  osten- 
sible agents,  hy  whose  instrumentalitij  and  through  zchose 
instigation  the  Church  was  to  be  in  a  persecuted  state 
through  the  long  period  of  1260  years. 

"  And  1  stoodf  upon  the  sand  of  the  sea,  and  saw  a 
beast  rise  up  out  of  the  sea,  having  seven  heads  and  ten 
horns,  and  upon  his  heads  the  name  of  blasphemy. 
And  the  beast,  which  I  saw,  was  like  unto  a  leopard, 
and  his  feet  were  as  the  feet  of  a  bear,  and  his  mouth 
as  the  mouth  of  a  lion  :  and  the  dragon  gave  him  his 
power,  and  his  seat,  and  great  authority.      And  T  saw 

*  Mr.  Galloway  is  right  in  his  general  idea  respecting  this  propiiecy,  that  a  predic 
fio/i,  im?)iediately  connected  ivith  the  1260  dd\s,  cannot  possibly  relate  to  the  dayj  of  Constau- 
tine :  but  he  appears  to  me  to  be  almost  invariably  wrong  in  bis  particular  exposition 
of  it.     See  Comment,  p.  120 — 157. 

f  The  I^atin  copies,  the  Alexandrian  M.  S.,  and  the  Syriac,  read  and  he  stoodf 
moaning  the  dragon  ;  and  accordingly  join  the  clause  and  he  stood  upon  the  sand  of  the 
sea  to  the  preceding  chapter.  (Pol.  Synop.  in  loc.)  I  Icnow  not  however  why  we 
should  give  up  the  common  reading,  which  is  that  of  all  the  Greek  copies  with  the 
single  exception  of  the  Alexandrian  followed  by  Aldus,  and  which  agrees  remarkably 
well  with  the  context.  Mr.  Mede  wishes  to  adopt  it, because  he  thinks, that  it  confirms 
his  interpretation  of  the  preceding  chapter,  and  shews  that  the  rise  of  the  ten-homed 
least  is  posterior  to  the  ivar of  the  dragon  ivith  the  luoman.  This  however  it  certainly 
canu'jt  do,  even  if  it  Le  adopted  ;  for,  as  I  have  already  stated  very  sufficiently,  the 
Kvcmaus  sojourn  in  the  ivilderness  of  1260  da-^s  plainly  intimates,  that  the  tvjr  of  the 
dragon  is  the  very  same  period  as  the  42  months  tyranny  of  the  beast ;  and  consequently, 
that  the  -war  cannot  in  ]ioint  of  time  precede  tfu  tyranny,  as  j\lr.  Mede  and  Bp.  New- 
ton  suppose. 


one  of  his  heads  as  it  were  wounded  to  death  ;  and  hi$ 
deadly  wound  was  healed  :  and  all  the  world  wondered 
after  the  beast.  And  they  worshipped  the  dragon,  which 
gave  great  power  »into  the  beast,  saying,  V\  ho  is  like 
unto  the  beast!  who  is  able  to  make  war  with  him  ? 
And  there  was  given  unto  him  a  mouth  speaking  great 
things  and  blasphemies;  and  power  was  given  unto  iiun 
to  continue*  forty  and  two  months.  And  he  opened 
his  mouth  in  blasphemy  against  God,  to  blaspheme  his 
name,  and  his  tabernacle,  and  them  that  dwell  in  heav- 
en. And  it  was  given  unto  him  to  make  war  with  the 
saints,  and  to  overcome  them  :  and  power  was  given 
him  over  all  kindreds,  and  tongues,  and  nations.  And 
all  that  dwell  upon  the  earth  shall  worship  him,  whose 
names  are  not  written  in  the  book  of  life  of  the  Lamb 
slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  If  any  man 
have  an  ear,  let  him  hear.  He,  that  leadeth  into  cap- 
tivity, shall  go  into  captivity  :  he,  that  killeth  with  the 
sword,  must  be  killed  with  the  sword.  Here  is  the  pa- 
tience and  the  faith  of  the  saints." 

In  the  preceding  chapter,  the  dragon  is  represented  as 
persecuting  i/ie  icoman  with  his  seven  heads  and  ten 
horns  :  here  we  have  the  symbol  of  a  beast ^  which  has 
likewise  seven  heads  and  ten  horns.  Now,  since  the 
drao;on  is  declared  to  be  the  devil^  the  heads  and  horns, 
which  he  is  described  as  using  against  the  zcoman,  must 
be  the  heads  and  horiis  oi  some  poicer  subservient  to  his 
views.      This  pozcer  is  now  brought  upon  the  stage. 

According  to  Mr.  Kett,  "  tlie^tirst  beast  of  the  Reve- 
lation., and  the  little  horn  of  Daniel.,  are  generally  allow- 
ed to  mean  the  same  power,  whatever  that  power  may 
be  ;"f  and   he  afterwards  asserts,   that  this  ten-horned 

*  Or  rather,  to  practise  prosperously.  The  word  roir^at  does  not  so  much  describe 
his  existsnce,  as  his  prosperity.  At  the  close  of  the  42  months  the  judgments  of  God 
will  begin  to  go  forth  against  him :  and  he  is  then  considered,  if  I  mav  use  the 
expression,  as  dead  in  iaic,  although  some  time  will  elapse  before  he  is  finallv  slain. 
There  is  reason  to  believe  from  Daniel,  that  this  time,  which  he  st^'les  the  time  of  the 
end,  which  is  the  period  of  God's  great  cotitro-versy  ii-ith  the  nations,  and  which  S}T1- 
chronizes  with  </v  last  -uial,  will  occupy  a  space  of  at  least  ^0  years.  (See  Dan.  xii. 
11,1  i.'.)      Indeed  the  ivhole  time  of  the  end  seems  to  occupy  a  space  of  75  yfan. 

*  Hin.the  Interp.  Yd.  i.  p.  385, 


so 

beast  is  the  Fapacif^  or,  as  he  terms  it,  the  Papal  Anii" 
chnst.'\ 

Nearly  the  same  opinion  is  maintained  by  Mr.  Gallo- 
way. He  does  not  indeed  allow,  that  the  first  beast  of 
the  Revelation  is  the  same  as  the  little  horn  of  Dan'ieVs 
fourth  beast^  for  he  asserts  that  that  little  horn  is  the  revo- 
luiionarif  power  of  France  :%  but  he  has  written  a  whole 
dissertation  for  the  express  purpose  of  shewing,  that  the 
ten-horned  apocalijptic  beast  is  the  Papacij.^ 

Bp.  Newton,  with  much  more  propriety  than  either  of 
these  two  authors,  observes,  that  "  no  doubt  is  to  be 
made,  that  this  beast  was  designed  to  represent  the  Ro- 
man empire ;  for  thus  far  both  ancients,  and  moderns, 
papists  and  protestants,  are  agreed.'^||  Had  his  Lord- 
ship steadily  adhered  to  this  simple,  and  indeed  unde- 
niable, proposition,  1  should  have  had  the  happiness  of 
being  able  to  sanction  my  own  views  of  the  Subject  with 
the  authority  of  one  of  our  ablest  commentators  upon 
prophecy  :  but,  quitting  the  assertion  with  which  he 
originally  set  out,  he  soon  entirely  diverts  the  attention 
of  his  reader  from  the  great  secular  Roman  beast  (as  the 
Bishop  himself^  styles  it)  to  that  spiritual poiver  which 
Daniel  symbolizes  by  the  little  horn  of  the  beast.  He 
commences  his  discussion  with  saying  very  truly,  that 
the  beast  is  the  Roman  empire ;  and  this  beast  he  after- 
wards pronounces  no  less  truly  to  be  a  secular  beast  : 
yet,  in  the  course  of  a  very  few  pages,  he  informs  us, 
that  the  beast  is  evidently  the  little  horn,  which  he  had 
already  proved  with  irrefragable  arguments  to  be  the 
Papacif.  Now  the  beast  is  said  by  St.  John  to  be  the 
same  as  his  own  last  head  :**  hence  the  Bishop,  having 

*  Yet  he  elsewhere  teaches  us,  that  the  lltth  horn  is  the  same  as  ihe  stcond  apocalypilc 
iiasf,  which  he  conceives  to  be  French  Infiddhy.  (Ihid.  p.  347.)  I  have  cited  the 
whole  passage,  where  this  assertion  is  made,  at  the  beginning  of  ihe  4th  chapter  (■/ 
the  present  ii-ori, 

f  ibid.  p.  S92— and  Vol.  ii.  p.  l—6f>. 

i  This  point  has  aheady  been  fully  discussed  in  the  4th  chapter  «/  the  present  ivorl. 

§  Prophetic  Hist,  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  ||  Dissert,  on  Rev.  xiif. 

^  Dissert,  on  Rev.  xiii.  Mr.  Mede,  in  a  similar  manner,  although  his  opinion 
be  the  same  as  that  of  the  Bishop,  especially  styles  the  first  apocalyptic  beast  the 
secular  beast,  and  the  second  the  ecckslastuat  beast.     See  his  Comment.  Apoc.  in  loc. 

*♦  "  Tlie  beast,  that  was,  and  is  not,  even  he  is  the  tijjhth,  and  is  of  the  seven." 
(^er.  ivii,  11.)     Some  suppose,  that  this  is  spoken  by  way  of  synecdoche;  but  I- 


81 

pronounced  the  heast  to  be  the  little  horn  or  the  Papactfi 
of  course  pronounces  the  Papacif  to  be  the  last  head 
likewise  :  that  is  to  say,  he  makes  u  spiritual  poioer  to 
be  the  last  head  of  the  beast  and  consequently  the  iivhoh 
beasts  notwithstanding  he  had  declared  that  this  very 
beast  is  a  secular  empire. 

Respecting  this  opinion  it  may  be  observed,  that,  if 
the  beast  be  a  secular  empire,  it  is  impossible  that  his  last 
head,  which  is  identified  with  himself,  should  be  a 
spiritual  power  ;  because,  if  that  were  the  case,  the  beast 
would  no  longer  be  a  secular  empire,  but  a  spiritual  one. 
Popery  indeed  like  Mohammedism,  is  symbolized,  mere- 
ly as  an  ecclesiastical  kingdom,  by  a  horn  originally  small 
and  afterwards  becoming  so  powerful  as  to  have  a  look 
more  stout  than  its  fellows  and  as  to  irifluence  the  actions 
of  the  whole  beast ;  nor  is  there  any  inconsistency  in  re- 
presenting stjmbolicallij  what  has  really  happened,  name- 
ly the  rise  of  an  ecclesiastical  kingdom  out  of  a  secular 
empire:  but  1  can  form  no  idea  how  it  is  possible,  that 
the  papal  horn  should  be  considered  as  the  last  head  of 
the  secular  beast,  when  that  head  is  declared  to  be  the 
same  at  its  first  rise  as  the  whole  secular  beast  himself. 
The  Pope  can  only  be  the  last  head  of  the  secular  beast 
either  in  his  spiritual  or  in  his  secular  character.  He 
cannot  in  his  spiritual :  because  the  last  head  of  the  beast 
is  to  be  the  whole  beast;  and  no  ingenuity  can  shew, 
that  an  ecclesiastical  kingdom,  as  such,  is  the  same  as  a 
secular  empire.  He  cannot  in  his  secular,  as  sovereign 
of  St.  Peter  s  patrimonij  :  both  because  it  is  unreasona- 
ble to  esteem  a  petty  temporal  prince  the  head  of  a  great 
secular  empire  ;  and  because,  as  1  have  just  observed, 
the  last  head  was  to  be  the  whole  secular  beast  at  its  first 
rise,  which  the  Pope  as  a  temporal  prince  never  was. 

know  not  what  right  we  have  to  tamper  with  the  plain  declaration  of  the  Apostle, 
(See  Pol.  Synop.  in  loc.)  I  consider  it  as  a  very  leading  part  of  the  prophecy,  and 
as  being  studiously  introduced  to  prevent  any  possibility  of  mistake  respecting  tbe 
foiver  intended  by  t/ja  last  head.  The  temporal  dominion  of  all  the  sixjirst  heads, spTing- 
ing  up  as  they  respectively  did  before  the  division  of  the  Empire,  extended  over  ths 
'Uihole  of  the  Empire  :  and  we  are  here  assured  by  St.  John,  that  the  temporal  duminion 
of  the  last  head,  notwithstanding  the  division  of  the  Empire  into  the  ten  horns,  shall 
extend  over  the  -whole  of  the  Empire  likewise.  Would  we  then  discover  the  last  head, 
we  must  seek  for  a  power  whose  dominions  have  been  commensurate  with  the  ivhole 
Western  Empire  :  for  this  last  head,  whatever  it  may  be,  i?.  Hke  //;  ^/a-  pridatssgrs,  19 
■be  the  ivhole  heast. 

V©L.    II.  11 


S2 

I  am  perfectly  aware,  that  to  this  objection  Bp.  New- 
ton would  reply,  that  the  Pope  is  "  fhe  head o{  the  state 
as  well  as  o'i  the  churchy  the  king  of  kings,  as  well  as  the 
bishop  of  bishops  ;"*  that  there  is  no  contradiction  in  a 
person  being  at  once  the  head  both  o^  the  state  and  the 
church;  and  consequently  that  the  Pope,  although  a 
5/>/y7/«o/ character,  may  be  justly  esteemed  the  head  of 
the  secular  beast  in  his  capacity  of  "  king  of  kings.''  I 
am  aware  likewise,  that  the  canonists  assert,  that  "  there 
is  no  sovereign  power  but  in  the  Pope;"  and  that  the 
Popes  have  repeatedly  maintained,  that  all  regal  authori- 
ty is  derived  from  them,  as  in  that  remarkable  instance 
when  Boniface  the  eighth  wrote  to  Philip  the  Fair,  "  We 
will  have  thee  know  that  thou  art  subject  to  us  both  in- 
temporals  and  spijitnals"-\  But  to  all  such  arguments 
as  these  the  answer  is  sufficiently  obvious  :  there  is  a 
very  wide  difference  between  oulij  claiming  and  reallij 
possessing  temporal  supremacy.  Now  the  Popes  have 
been  sufficiently  importunate  in  claiming  the  title  and 
authority  of  '"''king  of  kings ;"  and,  had  they  succeeded 
in  establishing  such  a  claim,  I  could  readily  have  allow- 
ed that  they  might  be,  what  Bp.  Newton  supposes  them 
to  be,  the  last  head  of  the  secular  beast  :1^  but,  if  we  con- 

*  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  Rev.  xiii. 

f  Whitaker's  Comment,  p.  229—234,  256,  2J7. 

\  Mr.  Wliitaker,  who  mars  Bp.  Newton's  much  more  simple  exposition  by  fan- 
cying that  the  Papacy  is  the  Dictatorial  bead reiniied,  cites  Dr.  Barrow  as  asserting,  that 
in  the  last  Lateran  council,  "  one  bishop  styled  the  Vo'^q prince  cf  the  ivorld ;  another 
orator  called  him  king  of  kings,  and  monarch  of  the  earth  ;  another  great  prelate  said 
of  him,  that  he  had  all  poicer  above  all  poivcrs  both  of  heaven  and  earth."  (Whitaker's 
Comment,  p.  256.)  He  likewsse  cites  a  sermon  'of  Pope  Innocent  the  third  as 
containing  the  following  passage.  "  The  church,  who  is  my  spouse,  does  not  at  her 
marriage  come  to  me  empty  handed.  She  has  bestowed  a  precious,  an  invaluable, 
dowry  on  me  ;  an  absolute  power  in  spirituals,  an  extensive  authority  in  temporals. 
She  has  given  me  the  mitre  for  the  ensign  of  my  spiritual,  and  the  crown  of  my 
temporal,  jurisdiction  ;  the  mitre  as  priest,  the  crown  as  king  ;  constituting  me  hi;i 
vicar,  who  bears  this  inscription  written  on  his  thigh  and  his  vestment,  King  of  iings 
and  I  ord  of  lords."  (Ibid.  p.  234.)  He  further  cites  a  bull  of  Sixt:n  the ffih  against 
the  king  cf  Navarre  and  the  Prince  of  Conde^  wherein  it  is  declared,  that "  the  authority 
delegated  to  St.  Peter  and  his  successors,  by  the  infinite  power  of  the  Eternal,  is 
above  all  power  of  the  kings  of  the  earth  ;  that  theirs  it  is  to  inforce  the  observance, 
and  to  punish  the  infringers  of  it,  by  pulling  them  from  their  thrones,  how  power- 
ful soever  they  be,  and  casting  them  to  the  earth  as  ministers  of  Satan."  (Ibid.  p. 
229.)  In  all  these  declarations  however  I  can  discover  nothing  like  a  proof,  thaf 
the  Pope  is  head  of  the  state,  and  therefore  a  head  of  the  secular  beast.  I  Icarn  from 
them  most  undeniably,  t\\^t  the  Popes  have  repeatedly  claimed -a  temporal,  no  less 
tlian  a  spiritual  supremacy  :  but,  before  I  can  allow  that  they  constitute  a  bead  oj 


83 

suit  history,  we  shall  find  that  the  very  reverse  is  the 
case  :  the  claim  has  often  been  made,  but  it  has  never 
been  alloxi'ed^  by  the  great  European  powers  :  conse- 
quently, if  it  has  never  been  alloiced,  but  on  the  contra- 
r}'  strenuously  resisted,  with  what  propriety  can  we  ad- 
mit the  scheme,  which  makes  the  Pope  to  be  the  last 
head  of  the  secular  beast,  as  being  "  the  head  of  the 
state  as  well  as  of  the  church,  the  king  oj'  kings  as  well 
as  bishop  of  bishops  I" 

When  Fope  Hildebrand  e:KCommVin\c?i\.ed  and  deposed 
the  Emperor  Henry,  that  prince  called  an  assembly,  and 
asked  their  opinion  respecting  the  pretended  right  of  the 
Pope  to  depose  an  Emperor  :  upon  which,  all,  both 
Germans  and  Italians,  unanimously  pronounced,  that 
the  Pope,  instead  of  having  power  over  the  Emperor ^ 
owed  him  obedience. •]•  So  likewise,  although  the  Em- 
peror Frederic  condescended  to  hold  the  Pope's  stirrup, 
he  first  declared,  that  this  was  no  mark  of  homage,  but 
only  a  compliment  paid  to  his  holiness  as  the  spiritual 
representative  of  Christ. :|:  The  same  Emperor,  in  order 
to  shew  his  independence  of  the  Pope,  repudiated  his 
wife  by  his  own  authority  :§  and,    when  the  Pope  had 

the  beast,  I  must  have  it  shewn  to  me  that  their  claim  has  been  alloived.  Till  this  be 
done,  we  are  only  informed  what  the  Popes  have  been  styled  by  themselves  and  their 
flatterers,  not  what  they  really  are  and  ha-ve  been.  Exactly  the  same  remark  applies  to 
Mr.  Sharpe's  observations  upon  the  same  subject.  The  Pope  may  call  himself  Rector 
Orlijs,  and  cleim  an  authority  over  all  the  kings  of  the  earth,  so  long  as  he  pleases  ; 
but  this  alone  will  never  prove  that  he  is  the  ruler  of  the  world,  or  that  any  such 
authority  is  alloived  to  him.  (Append,  to  an  Inquiry  into  the  description  of  Bab- 
ylon p.  11.)  It  is  not  unworthy  of  notice,  that  even  the  claim  of  temporal  supremacy 
was  not  made  by  the  Popes,  till  a  considerable  period  after  they  had  been  declared 
supreme  head  of  the  Church.  The  insolent  Gregory  the  second,  tUTOUghout  his  whole 
quarrel  with  Leo  Isauricus  respecting  image-worship  in  the  year  727,  though  he  ve- 
hemently claimed  the  power  of  excommunicating  even  sovereign  princes,  presumed 
not  to  assert  that  he  possessed  any  temporal  supremacy  over  the  Emperor.  In  one  of 
his  epistles  to  Leo,  "  the  limits  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  powers  are  defined  by  the 
Pontiff.  To  the  former  he  appropriates  the  body  ;  to  the  latter,  the  soul :  the 
sword  of  justice  is  in  the  hands  of  the  magistrate  ;  the  more  formidable  weapon  of 
excommunication  is  entrusted  to  the  clergy ;  and,  in  the  exercise  of  their  divine 
commission,  a  zealous  son  will  not  spare  his  offending  father :  the  successors  of  St. 
Peter  may  lawfully  chastiss  the  kings  of  the  earth."  (Hist,  of  Dechne  and  Fall, 
VoL  ix.  p.  133.)  Indeed  several  years  afterwards,  it  is  sufficiently  manifest,  that 
She  Pope  was  a  mere  feudal  vassal  of  Charlemagne,  whom  he  acknowledged  to  be 
his  rightful  sovereign. 

*  At  least  never  allowed  with  any  continuance,  and  certainly  never  allowed  by 
<!.!1  the  great  powers  at  the  same  time. 

f  Mod.  Univ.  Hist.  Vol.  xxix.  p.  86.         \  Ibid.  p.  1 18.         §  Ibid.  p.  117. 


94 

presumed  to  assert  that  he  bestowed  upon  him  the  Em- 
pire as  a  fief  of  the  holij  see,  he  published  a  manifesto,  in 
which  he  openly  gave  the  he  to  all  those  who  should 
dare  to  say,  that  he  held  his  crown  of  any  other  than 
God  himself,  declaring  that  he  would  rather  resign  it  al- 
together than  suffer  it  to  be  debased  in  his  possession.* 
In  a  similar  manner,  when  Pope  Innocent  the  third  ex- 
communicated and  deposed  the  Emperor  Phifip,  the 
German  nobility  of  his  party  complained  in  a  letter  to 
the  Pope^  that  his  holiness  had  intermeddled  in  the  elec- 
tion of  «  kins^  of  the  Romans^  contrary  to  the  rights  of 
the  Gerinan  princes  and  the  duty  of  his  own  pontificate, 
which  originally  depended  upon  the  imperial  crown. "j* 
So  again,  when  Pope  Honorius  threatened  to  excom* 
municate  the  Emperor  Frederic  the  second  on  account 
of  his  expellini^  from  their  sees  some  bishops  who  were 
creatures  of  the  Pope^  he  was  plainly  informed,  that  the 
Emperors  had  always  possessed  an  authority  and  sover- 
eign jurisdiction  over  the  ecclesiastical  state,  that  his 
grand-father  and  father  had  maintained  this  jurisdiction 
in  full  force,  and  that  he  neither  could  nor  w  )uld  divest 
himself  of  it  to  the  prejudice  of  the  Empire  and  his  suc- 
cessors.:!: The  Emperor  Albert  indeed  was  compelled 
by  the  exigencies  of  the  times  to  own,  that  kin^s  and 
emperors  received  the  power  of  the  temporal  sword  from 
the  Pope  .•§  but  afterwards,  when  Pope  John  declared 
the  imperial  di^nitij  to  be  a  fief  of  the  holij  see,  the  Em- 
peror  Louis  assembled  all  the  learned  men  of  Germany, 
Doth  of  the  clergy  and  the  laity,  to  give  their  opinion  of 
the  bull  which  contained  such  a  claim.  These  all  con- 
cluded, that  it  was  v^^just,  unreasonable,  and  contrary 
to  the  Christian  religion,  as  tending  to  abolish  the  sov- 
ereign power  of  princes  ;  and  the  states  of  the  Empire 
requested  the  Emperor  to  take  care,  that  the  imperial 
dignity  should  not  be  trampled  upon,  nor  the  Germanic 
liberty  reduced  to  bondage. ||  Finding  however  that  Me 
Popes  still  from  time  to  time  renewed  their  pretensions, 
the  princes  oi  the  Empire,  ecclesiastical  as  well  as  secu- 

*  Mod.  Univ.  Hist.  Vol.  xxix.  p.  120,  121.  f  Ibid.  p.  168. 

\  Ibid.  p.  18$.  §  Ibid,  p,  257.  j|   Ibid.  p.  294,  295,  206. 


8J 

lar,  at  length  enacted  the  famous  constitution  by  which 
the  Empire  was  declared  to  be  for  ever  independent  of 
the  Pope* 

If  from  the  Empire  we  pass  to  Hungary^  we  shall  find, 
that  the  temporal  supremacy  of  the  Fope  was  in  the  year 
1303  so  steadily  resisted  in  that  country,  that  his  holi- 
ness himself  was  excommunicated  by  the  Hungarian 
bishops,  in  consequence  of  his  having  presumed  to  lay 
the  city  of  Buda  under  an  interdict,  because  his  pretend- 
ed right  to  dispose  of  the  crown  of  that  kingdom  was 
resolutely  denied. •]* 

In  our  own  country,  when  Pope  Hildebrand  summon- 
ed William  the  Conqueror  to  do  homage  for  the  kingdom 
of  England^  as  a  fief  of  the  Roman  see^  William  replied, 
that  he  held  his  crown  only  of  God  and  his  own  sword ; 
and,  when  the  nuncio  threatened  him  vt^ith  the  censures 
of  the  Church,  he  published  an  edict  forbidding  his  sub- 
jects to  acknowledge  any  Pope  but  such  as  he  should  ap- 
prove, or  to  receive  any  order  from  Rome  without  his 
permission.^  England  indeed  submitted  to  the  Pope 
in  the  disgraceful  reign  of  king  John  ;  but  in  that  of  his 
successor  the  English  agents  at  the  council  of  Lyons 
protested  against  the  act,  and  declared  that  John  had  no 
right  without  tlie  consent  of  his  barons  to  reduce  the 
kingdom  to  so  ignominious  a  servitude. § 

As  for  France^  when  Boniface  the  eighth  claimed  a 
temporal  superiority  over  Philip  tlie  Fair^  the  states  of 
the  kingdom  formally  disavowed  the  authority  of  the 
Pope^  and  maintained  the  independent  sovereignty  of 
that  prince. II 

So  likewise,  when  Gregory  the  seventh  claimed  the 
same  superiority  over  the  different  kingdoms  of  Spain, 
Don  Alonso  and  the  other  sovereigns  unanimously  declar- 
ed, that  they  were  independent  princes,  and  would  own 
no  superior  upon  earth. ^ 

Thus  it  appears,  when  we  descend  to  facts,  upon 
what  very  slender  grounds  Bp.  Newton  makes  the  Pope 

*  Mod.  Univ.  Hist.  Vol.  xxix.  p.  31 1.  f  Ibid.  Vol.  xlli.  p.  32. 

I  Smollett's  Hist,  of  England,  Vol.  i.  p.  418. 
§  Mod.  Univ.  Hist.  Vol.  xxxix.  p.  174.  ||  Ibid.  Vol.  xxiii.  p.  385. 

t  Ibid.  Vol.  XX.  p.  63. 


86 

to  be  the  last  head  of  the  secular  beast,  "  the  head  of  the 
state  as  well  as  of  the  church,  the  king  of  Icings  as  well 
as  the  bishop  of  bishops." 

Nor  is  this  the  only  objection  to  which  the  system  of 
Bp.  Newton  is  hable.  In  a  prophecy  of  Daniel  already 
considered,  four  great  beasts,  or  universal  empires,  are 
described  as  rising  successively  out  o^  the  sea.  The  last 
of  them,  like  the  apocalijptic  beast  now  under  considera- 
tion, is  said  to  have  ten  horns,  to  be  exceeding  terrible, 
and  to  be  different  from  those  which  preceded  it.  Hence 
I  collect,  that  the  fourth  beast  of  Daniel,  and  the  first 
beast  of  St.  John,  are  designed  to  symbolize  the  same 
poKDer.  No  doubt  however  is  entertained,  that  DanieVs 
fourth  beast  is  the  Roman  empire  :  it  follows  therefore, 
agreeably  to  Bp.  Newton's  original  proposition,  that  St. 
Johfi^s  first  beast  is  the  Roman  empire  likewise  at  some 
period  or  other  of  its  existence.  Now  this  fourth  beast 
of  Daniel  is  said  to  have  a  little  horn,  springing  up 
among  his  ten  larger  horns;  which  little  horn  has  been 
shewn  to  be  the  Papacij.  If  then  the  little  horn  be  the 
Papacif,  and  if  DanieVs  fourth  beast  be  not  the  Papacii, 
but  the  Roman  empire  out  of  which  ihe  Papacij  sprung ; 
St.  Joh-^s  first  beast,  being  the  same  as  DanieVs  fourth 
beast,  must  assuredly  be  the  Roman  empire  likewise,  and 
therefore  cannot  be  the  Papacy.  To  me,  1  must  be  free 
to  confess,  it  is  a  matter  of  no  small  wonder,  that  the 
first  beast  of  St.  John  should  ever  have  been  thought  to 
symbolize  the  Papacy  :  for,  if  this  beast  be  the  same  as 
DanieVs  fourth  beast,  a  point  maintained  even  by  Bp. 
Newton  himself,  he  certainly  cannot  be  likewise  the 
same  as  onh'^  the  little  horn  oi  that  verij  identical  beast. 
The  reason  is  manifest :  such  a  supposition  as  this  does  in 
fact  make  DanleVs  fourth  beast  precisely  the  same  as  his 
oivn  little  horn;  a  supposition  to  the  full  as  unwarranta- 
ble, as  to  conclude  that  he  is  the  same  as  any  one  of  his 
other  ten  horns.*      Yet  does  Bp.  Newton,  not  regarding 

*  Such  a  supposition  cannot  be  better  confuted  than  in  tlie  following  passage. 
"  Si  Malvendffi  et  Lessio  fides  habeatur,  bcstia  ha;c  Johannis  decacornis  et  septiceps 
nihil  aliud  erit  quam  cornu  illud  parvulum  bestis  quarts  Danielis  :  et  proinde  de- 
cern cornua  apud  Danielem  non  erunt  cornua  bestice,  sed  parvi  istius  corniculi,  quod 
tamen  post  ilia  decern  exortum  est,  sentcmque  capita  apud  Johannem  ejusdem  cor- 
niculi capita  erunt.     Quo  quid  absurdius  ?     Certe  si  bestia  ilia  quarta  Romanum 


S7 

lUis  manifest  violation  of  symbolical  analogy  and  fiojura- 
tive  propriety,  adopt  the  inconsistent  scheme  of  typitying 
f/ie  Fapac//  both  by  t/ie  eleventh  horn  of  a  beast,  and  by 
the  identical  beast  himself  to  whom  that  eleventh  horn 
belongs.* 

The  seven-headed  and  fen-horned  apocalyptic  beast 
then  is  the  same  as  the  fourth  and  ten-horned  beast  of 
Daniel :  in  other  words,  he  is  the  Roman  empire ;  which, 
according  to  the  sure  declaration  of  prophecy,  is  the  last 
universal  empire  with  which  the  Church  shall  be  con- 
cerned. Daniel  does  not  mention  the  seven  heads  of 
this  beast,  nor  does  he  specially  define  Ji is  form  ;  he  on- 
ly observes,  that  he  was  dreadful,  terrible,  and  strong, 
and  that  he  was  diverse  from  all  the  beasts  that  were  be- 
fore him  :  but  St.  John  amply  supplies  this  deficiency, 
b}'  informing  us,  that  he  had  not  only  the  ten  horns  no- 

est  imperium,  sunt  hxc  comua  ipsius  bestia,  h.  e.  Romani  status,  vel  reges  prov- 
inciarum,  iu  quas  imperium  illud  dividendum  est."  Downham  :  apud  Pol.  Synop. 
in  loc. 

*  It  was  observed  to  me  with  his  usual  acuteness  by  the  present  Bp.  of  St.  Asaph, 
in  a  conversation  upon  this  very  subject,  that  it  is  impossible  for  one  of  the  horns  of 
a  symbolical  beast  to  mean  the  same  thing  as  the  symbolical  beast  himself.  A  head,  iTa- 
porting  a5  it  does  ayirOT  of  go'verument,  must  necessarily  be  in  some  sort  identified 
with  the  beast  Or  empire  over  which  it  presides,  because  they  jointly  form  only  a  singU 
body  politic  :  but  a  horn,  importing  one  of  the  kingdoms  iibicb  ha-ve  sprung  out  of  an  empire, 
can  never  be  identiiied  with  the  ivhole  empire,  of  which  it  constitutes  only  a  single  part. 
Hence  St.  Jolin  does  not  sav,  that  the  six  first  heads  of  the  beast  are  respectively  the 
same  as  the  beast  himself ;  because  such  an  observation  would  have  been  plainly 
superfluous,  the  empire  under  all  its  six  heads  being  in  an  xmdivided  state,  and  therefore 
of  course  universally  subject  to  its  six  successive  forms  cf  government  :  but  he  specially 
observes,  that  Mf  last  head  sh.ou\d  he  the  beast  himself ;  because,  although  the  empire 
previous  to  the  rise  of  this  last  head  had  branched  out  into  ten  horns, yet  this  last  mighty 
head  should  at  its  first  rise  so  completely  swallow  up  most  of  the  ten  separate  horns,  as 
to  become,  like  each  of  its  six  predecessors,  the  ivhole  beast,  however  unexpected  such 
an  event  might  be  after  the  division  of  the  empire.  A poiier  may  indeed  be  sym- 
bolized both  by  the  little  horn  of  one  beast,  and  by  the  ivhole  body  of  another  distinct  beast, 
as  is  the  case  with  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  the  Papacy  expanding  into  a  spiritual  em- 
pire :  but  it  certainly  cannot  be  symboUzed  both  by  the  horn  of  a  beast  and  by  the 
very  identical  beast  to  ivhom  that  horn  is  attached. 

Mr.  Bicheno  adopts  and  states  the  commonly  received  interpretation  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  make  it  plainly  confute  itself.  "  What  is  here  (Dan.  vii.  8.)  represented 
under  the  emblem  of  a  horn  of  the  fourth  beast  is  the  same  tyrannv  which  is  shewn  to 
John  (Rev.  xiii.  1  —  10.)  as  a  beast.  In  this  all  our  best  commentators  are  agreed.  Nor 
let  it  seem  strange,  that  what  is  here  prefigured  by  a  horn  of  the  fourth  beast,  the  Ro- 
m.'.n  dominion,  should  be  represented  in  another  vision  as  a  Least  ivith  seven  heads  and 
ten  horns."  (Signs  of  the  times,  Part  I.  p.  1  '3.)  To  me,  I  must  confess,  such  a  mode 
of  exposition  appears  -jcry  strange.  The  ten-horned  beast  of  Daniel  is  manifestly  the  ten- 
Lorned  beast  of  St.  John  :  how  then  can  the  little  horn,  which  sprung  up  long  after  the 
rise   oi  the  beast,  be  the  beast  himself ;    and  how  can  the  apocalyptic  beast,  six    of  whose 

heads  according  to  Mr.  Bicheno's  own  plan  arc  s.-.-ulur  heads,  symbolize  nothing  ex- 
cept the  eccL'iiastical  Roman  power  ? 


ticed  by  Daniel,  but  likewise  seven  heads ;  and  that  his 
shape  was  compounded  oi  all  the  three  beasts  which  pre- 
ceded him,  the  Babylonian  lion,  the  Mec/o-Persia?i  bear, 
and  the  Macedonian  leopard. 

1.  This  general  position  being  established  with  the 
full  original  consent  even  of  Bp.  Newton  himself,  the 
first  point  to  be  considered  is,  in  what  sense  St.  John 
could  be  said  prophetically  to  behold  the  rise  of  the  Ro- 
man empire,  when  it  had  already  been  in  existence  many 
ages  before  he  was  born,  and  when  even  he  himself  un- 
equivocally declares  such  to  be  the  case.* 

The  Apostle  affords  us  two  distinct  solutions  of  this 
important  question  :  Jirst  by  teaching  us  that  the  beast, 
after  his  rise  from  the  sea,  should  have  power  given  him 
to  continue  forty  two  months  or  1260  z/e«r5,f  the  very 
period  during  which  his  little  horn  was  to  carry  on  its 
persecutions  against  the  saints ;  and  afterwards  by  tell- 
ing us,  that  this  same  beast  "  was,  and  is  not,  and  yet 
is."  Hence  it  appears,  that,  in  some  sense  or  another, 
the  Roman  beast  was  to  possess  a  wonderful  peculiarity 
which  should  most  essentially  distinguish  him  from  his 
three  predecessors  in  universal  empire  :  he  was  first  to 
exist;  afterwards  he  was  to  cease  to  exist;  and  lastly, 
he  was  again  to  come  into  existence. 

"  The  mystery  of  the  woman,  and  of  the  beast  that 
carrieth  her,  which  hath  the  seven  heads  and  ten  horns. 
The  beast,  that  thou  sawest,  was,  and  is  not  ;  and  shall 
ascend  out  of  the  bottomless  pit,  and  go  into  perdition  : 
and  they,  that  dwell  on  the  earth,  shall  wonder,  whose 
names  were  not  written  in  the  book  of  life  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world,  when  they  behold  the  beast, 
that  was,  and  is  not,  and  yet  is." 

From  comparing  this  passage  with  St.  John's  asser- 
tion, that  he  sazv  the  beast  arise  out  of  the  sea,  and  that 
having  thus  arisen  he  was  to  possess  power  forttj  two 
months  ;  it  will  be  manifest,  that  the  second  period  of  the 

*  See  Rev.  xvii.  10. 
f  "  Power  was  given  unto  him  to  continue  forty  and  two  months."  What  is  here 
translated  continue  ought  rather  to  be  traublated  HehiaxcsWY practise  or  prosper.  Now 
tb:  Roman  beast  revived,  and  began  to  practise,  when  he  delivered  the  saints  into  the  hand 
of  his  little  horn  :  consequently  the  period  0/  his  practising,  and  the  reign  oj"  his  little  horn, 
are  necessarily  commensurate.    See  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  Rev,  xifi. 


beast's  existence  begins  with,  terminates  with,  and  is 
therefore  exactly  commensurate  with,  t/ie  \260  i/ears of 
the  great  Apostacij  :  consequently,  that  it  preci.'sely  co- 
incides with  the  tyrannical  reign  of  his  own  little  horn 
during  a /i»ie,  times^  and  half  a  time ;  with  the  treading 
of  the  holif  citif  under  foot  during  forty  tzco  months ;  vvitli 
the  ^xo\i\\es\/m2,  o^  the  two  ivitnesses  during  \260  dai/s  ; 
and  with  the  flight  of  the  woman  into  the  wilderness^ 
from  the  face  of  the  dragon^  during  the  same  period.* 

The  near  alliance  of  the  Apostacij  and  the  beast  will 
lead  us  to  the  right  understanding  of  what  is  meant  by 
his  having  been^  his  not  being,  and  his  renewed  existence^ 
"  A  beast,''  as  Bp.  Newton  most  truly  wbst^ves,  and  as  I 
have  already  very  fully  stated  in  a  preceding  chapter,  "  A 
beast,  in  the  prophetic  style,  is  a  tijrannical idolatrous  em- 
pire :  the  kingdom  of  God  and  of  Christ  is  never  repre- 
sented under  the  image  of  a  beast."  This  being  the 
case,  an  empire  is  said  to  continue  in  existence  as  a  beast, 
so  long  as  it  is  a  tifrannicallij  idolatrous  empire  :  when  it 
puts  away  its  idolatry  and  tifrannif,  and  turns  to  the  God 
of  heaven,  the  beast,  or  those  qualities  w  hereby  the  em- 
pire 'Was  a  beast,  ceases  to  exist,  though  the  empire  itself 
may  still  remain  :  and,  when  it  resumes  its  idolatnj  and 
tijrannij,  thous^h  they  may  not  perhaps  bear  precisely  the 
same  names  as  its  old  idolatnj  and  tijrannif,  it  then  once 
more  recommences  its  existence  in  its  original  character  of 
a  beast.  So  singular  a  circumstance  as  this  never  hap- 
pened either  to  the  Babijlonian  beast,  the  Medo-Fersian 
heast,  or  the  Macedonian  beast.  Whatever  may  have 
been  the  sentiments  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  Darius  the  Mede, 
and  his  nephew  Cyrus  ;  whatever  decrees  they  mav  have 
promulged  in  favour  of  true  religion  throughout  their 
widely  extended  dominions  ;  whatever  privileges  they 
may  have  granted  to  the  ancient  people  of  God  :  the 
voice  of  history  hears  ample  testimony,  that  their  sub- 
jects, as  a  body,  never  ceased  to  be  idolaters.*     But  this 

*  See  the  preceding  5th  chapter  of  this  -work.  This  coincidence  of  times  seems  to  have 
been  the  principal  reason  why  the  ten-homed  heast  has  been  so  frequently  confounded 
with  his  own  little  horn  or  the  Papacy  :  each  was  to  continue  in  power  1 260  days. 

t  "  —  the  beast  that  was,  and  is  not,  and  yet  is."  The  Complutensian  edition  reads 
"  was,  and  is  not,  and  yet  shall  be." 

'  Though  the  Persians,  in  the  time  of  Xerxes 's  famous  expedition,  were  pro- 

VOL.    II.  12 


90 

singular  circumstance  has  happened  to  the  Roman  beast, 
and  to  the  Roman  heast  alone.  That  empire  was  origi- 
nally a  beast,  by  its  profession  of  paganism,  and  by  its 
persecution  o{  the  first  set  of  men  of  under  stamlum;  men- 
tioned by  Daniel  :*  it  ceased  to  be  a  beast  undeV  Con- 
stantine  the  great,  when  it  embraced  Christianity,  and 
became  the  protector  of  the  church :  and  it  again  relapsed 
into  its  bestial  state,  when  it  set  up  the  tyrannical  supre- 
macy of  the  Pope,  adopted  the  worship  of  saints  and 
martyrs,  and  bitterly  persecuted  the  second  set  of  men  of 
understanding. '\  Now  the  beast  erected  the  spiritual  do- 
mination of  the  Pope  in  the  (jcar  606,  by  conferring  up- 
on him  the  prerogatives  of  universal  episcopacy.  Con- 
sequently then  it  was  that  the  beast  arose  out  o^  the  sea, 
or  out  of  the  turbulent  times  of  Gothic  invasion,  in  his 
third  or  revived  state  :  and  he  may  be  considered  as 
having  firmly  taken  his  station  upon  the  shore,  when  in 
the  ijear  607  idolatry  was  openly  re-established  in  the 
old  heathen  Pantheon.  In  this  state,//<!5  dragon,  or  Sa- 
tan, is  said  to  have  given  him  "  his  power,  and  his  seat, 
and  great  authority  ;"  in  the  same  manner  as  he  had 
given  them  to  him  before,  when  the  resolute  advocate  of 
paganism. + 

fessed  iconoclasts  ;  yet,  notwithstanding  Dr.  Hyde's  laborious  attempt  to  prove  the 
contraiy,  I  cannot  but  think  it  sufficiently  evident,  that  they  worshipped,  possibly 
not  altogether  excluding  the  true  God,  the  Sun,  the  Moon,  and  the  Host  of  Heaven, 
in  conjunction  with  their  diluvian  ancestors. 

*  Dan.  xi.  33.  f  Ver  35. 

\  It  is  in  this  same  third  or  papally  idolatrous  state  that  the  beast  "  shall  go  into  per- 
dition," or  be  utterly  destroyed,  as  St.  John  in  perfect  harmony  with  Daniel  specially 
informs  us.  (Rev.  xvii.  11. — Dan.  vii.  II.)  After  his  division  into  ten  kingdoms,  and 
"  because  of  the  voice  of  the  great  words  which  the  horn  spake  ;"  that  is  to  say, 
when  he  has  again  become  a  beast  by  upholding  the  papal  superstition,  as  he  was 
before  a  beast  bv  supporting  the  abominations  of  paganism  :  in  this  last  state  he  goeth 
into  perdition.  "  He  shall  not,  as  he  did  before,  cease  for  a  time,  and  revive  again  ; 
but  shall  be  destroyed  for  ever."  (Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  Rev.  xvii.)  Hence  wc 
may  conclude,  that,  since  the  beast  is  to  be  destroyed  on  account  of  bis  little  horn,  he 
will  continue  firmly  leagued  with  his  little  horn  to  the  very  time  of  the  end.  Accord- 
ingly, as  Daniel  describes  the  b;ast  and  his  little  horn  as  perishing  together,  so  St.  John 
teaches  us  that  the  sajne  beast  and  thefulse  prophet  shall  be  involved  in  one  common  ruin 
fighting  against  the  Word  of  God.  (Rev.  xix.  20.)  The  necessary  result  of  this 
statement  is,  that  we  must  not  expect  any  further  reformation  ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
that  the  followers  of /,^.-  Pope  will  become  hardened  in  their  false  doctrines,  and  ju- 
dicially blind  to  the  clear  denunciations  of  Scripture,  so  tiiat  like  the  Jews  of  old 
they  shall  unwittingly  accomplish  the  oracles  of  God.  As  blindness  in  part  hath 
happened  unto  Israel  ;  so,  because  the  Papists  received  not  the  love  of  truth  that 
they  might  be  saved,  God  hath  sent  them  strong  delusion  that  they  should  believe  a 
lie.     (See  2  Thess.  ii,  10, 11.)     Air.  Whitaker,  to  whom  the  thanks  of  every  Protest- 


91 

II.  The  next  point  to  be  considered  is  the  symbolical 
import  of  the  seven  heads  of  the  heast^  and  especially  of 
his  last  head. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  that,  allhough  the  seven-headed 
and  ten-horned  beast  arose  out  of  the  sea  in  the  year 
wherein  the  Apostacy  commenced,  we  are  not  on  that 
account  to  suppose,  either  that  all  his  seven  heads  were 
then  in  existence,  or  all  his  ten  original  horns. ^'  The 
symbol  o{  an  Empire  must  be  so  constructed  as  to  take 
in  the  whole  history  of  that  Empire :  whence,  if  vve 
contemplate  it  at  any  given  period  previous  to  its  final 
dissolution,  sotne  members  of  the  sym,bol  will  unavoida- 
bly relate  to  jmst  events.,  some  to  present  events.,  and 
others  io  future  events.  This,  we  are  specially  inform- 
ed by  St.  John,  is  the  case  with  the  present  symbol. 

"  Here  is  the  mind,  which  hath  wisdom.  The  seven 
heads  are  seven  mountains,  on  which  the  woman  sitteth. 
They  are  also  seven  kings  (or  forms  of  government:) 
five  are  fallen,  and  one  is,  and  the  other  is  not  yet  come  ; 
and,  when  he  cometh,  he  must  continue  a  short  space. 
And  the  beast,  that  was,  and  is  not,  even  he  is  the 
eighth,  and  is  of  the  seven,  and  goeth  into  perdition." 

From  this  passage  we  learn,  that  the  seven  heads  have 
a  txmo-fold  mystical  signification;  alluding  both  to  the 
seven  hills  upon  which  the  city  of  Rome  was  founded, 
and  to  seven  different  forms  of  govermnent  which  either 
had  arisen  or  should  rise  in  tlie  Roman  empire.  At  the 
time  when  St.  John  wrote, j^re  of  these  forms  had  already 
fallen,  and  the  sixth  was  then  in  actual  existence :  there 

ant,  particularly  at  the  present  juncture,  are  due  for  his  well-timed  and  masterly 
statement  of  the  abominations  of  Popery,  observes,  that  "  above  a  century  ago  Puff- 
endorfF  expressed  an  opinion,  that  for  the  future,  in  all  probability,  the  Pope  would 
by  degrees  gain  ground  on  the  protestants,  and  stated  vi^hat  makes  any  real  reforma- 
tion in  the  doctrine  of  his  followers  impossible  :  that,  if  it  should  once  be  granted, 
that  the  Pope  has  hitherto  maintained  but  one  single  erroneous  point,  his  infaUibility 
would  then  fall  to  the  ground  ;  and,  if  that  were  removed,  the  whole  superstructure 
of  his  ecclesiastical  sovereignty,  which  is  founded  on  it,  must  fall  too."  (Comment. 
p.  460.)  Ought  not  this  consideration  to  put  protestants  upon  their  guard  how 
they  give  any  encouragement  to  the  encroaching  spirit  of  Popery  .'' 

*  Tivo  oi  the  three  horns,  whicli  were  to  be  plucked  up  before  the  little  i5nr«,  namely 
the  kingdom  of  the  Heruli,  and  the  kingdom  of  the  Ostrogoths,  Were  fallen  previous  to  the 
year  G06  ;  as  were  likewise^i'i^  out  of  the  seven  heads,  or  forms  of  government.  Sir  Isaac 
Newton  justly  remarks,  that,  "  whatever  was  their  number  afterwards,  they  fthe  ten 
horns  J  are  still  called  the  ten  Hags  from  their  first  number." 


92 

is  no  difficulty  therefore,  and  consequently  no  dispute, 
in  settling  vvhat  is  meant  by  the  first  six  heads  of  the 
heast.  Two  Roman  historians  indeed  hav^e  satisfactorily 
decided  this  point  for  us,  by  teaching  us,  that,  previous 
to  the  sixth  or  imperial  form  under  which  St.  John  lived, 
their  country  had  been  sul>ject  to  exactly  /t"ue  others; 
namely  kings^  consuls^  dictators^  decemvirs^  and  military 
tribunes  with  conswar  authoritij*  The  only  point  then, 
liable  to  dispute,  is,  zo hat  form  of  Roman  government  is 
intended  by  the  last  head:  and  here,  1  think,  there 
cannot  be  much  dispute,  if  we  only  compare  prophecy 
and  historif  together. 

1  have  stated,  that  the  beast  arose  out  of  the  sea  in  the 
year  606,  when  he  delivered  the  saints  into  the  hand  of 
his  little  horn  by  conferring  upon  the  Pope  the  right  of 
universal  supremacy.  Then  it  was,  that  he  relapsed  in- 
to his  bestial  state  ;  and  consequently  then  it  was,  that 
he  began  to  exist  afresh.  Hence,  ^mce  five  of  his  heads 
had  fallen  in  the  days  of  St.  John  ;  and  since  the  same 
imperial  sixth  head^  that  was  originally  an  idolatrous  head, 
and  afterwards  ceased  to  be  so,  constituted  the  Bishop  of 
Rome  a  tyrant  over  the  Church  :  hence,  1  say,  it  appears, 
that  the  beast  began  to  exist  afresh  under  his  sixth  :  that 
is  to  say,  the  beast  both  ioas.i  is  not^  and  began  again  to 
^^,  under  o?/e  and  the  same  sixth  head:  consequently, 
in  point  of  chronolgy,  when  the  beast  reviv^ed,  his  last 
head  had  not  arisen.  In  the  symbol  however  it  was 
necessary  that  he  should  be  represented  complete  in  all 
his  members,  though  some  of  those  members,  as  1  have 
just  observed,  unavoidablv  relate  to  past  events,  some  to 
present  events,  and  some  to  future  events.  According- 
ly the  beasts  when  he  emerged  from  the  sea^  appeared 
to  St.  John  complete  vyith  all  his  seven  heads^  notwith- 
standing //i7<?  of  those  heads  were  already  fallen,  and  not- 
withstanding the  last  head  was  not  as  yet  in  existence. 
In  order  to  assist  us  in  our  inquiries  after  this  last  head, 
the  prophet  observes,  that,  whenever  it  did  come,  it 
should  be  a  double  head,  consisting  of  the  seventh  head 
melting,  as  it   were,  into   the  eighth  head ;  and  that  it 

'  I.iv.  Hist.L.  6.  C.  1. — Tacit.  Annal.  L.  I.  in  initio,  cited  by  Bp.  Newton. 


9^ 

should  likewise  be  the  beast  that  was,  and  is  not :  it 
should,  in  some  sense  or  another,  be  the  beast  that  was 
and  is  not,  although  the  beast  revived  under  his  sixth 
head ;  and  it  should  moreover  be  so  powerful  at  its  tiirst 
rise,  that  it  should  in  a  manner  be  identified  with  the 
"whole  beast  himself,  notwithstanding  his  ten  horns,  and 
his  additional  little  horn  mentioned  by  Daniel. 

1  know  not  any  better  method  of  ascertaining  what 
power  is  intended  by  the  last  head  of  the  beast,  or  the 
last  form  of  Roman  government,  than  simply  to  follow 
the  current  of  history  from  the  days  of  St.  John.  The 
sixth  or  imperial  head  was  flourishing  in  the  height  of 
its  glory  when  the  Apostle  wrote;  and  we  know,  that 
the  last  head  had  not  then  arisen,  both  from  the  testimony 
of  history,  and  from  the  unequivocal  declaration  thatit 
was  "  not  yet  come."  Now  the  first  remarkable  event, 
that  St.  John  notices  in  the  history  of  the  sixth  head,  is, 
that  it  was  wounded  to  death  or  slain  by  the  stroke  of  a 
sword.*  Before  any  attempt  can  be  made  to  explain 
this  part  of  the  prophecy,  we  must  endeavour  to  acquire 
a  clear  idea  in  the  abstract  of  what  is  meant  in  the 
language  of  symbols  by  a  beast's  being  slain ;  for,  till 
this  idea  be  acquired,  it  will  be  a  vain  labour  to  seek 
for  what  we  may  perhaps  fancij  to  be  a  corresponding 
event. 

A  beast  is  a  tifrunnical  idolatrous  empire.  The  life  of 
a  beast  therefore,  or  the  vital  principle  zohereby  he  is  a 
beast,  must  necessarily  mean  his  tyranny  and  idolatry. 
Consequently  the  death  of  a  beast  must  be  the  very  re- 
verse cf  his  life  :  that  is  to  say,  a  beast  is  slain,  not  when 
a  temporal  empire  is  subverted,  but  when  he  ceases  to  be 
a  beast  by  abjuring  his  indolatry  and  tifranmj.  So  again  : 
as  the  death  of  a  beast  is  his  abjuration  of  tyranmj  and 
idolatry,  the  revival  of  a  beast  is  his  relapsing  a  second 
time  into  tyranny  and  idolatrif.  In  short,  the  symbolical 
imagery  of  «  beast  being  slain,  of  his  continuing  dead  for 
a  certain  space,  and  of  his  afterzvards  coming  to  life 
again,  is  precisely  equivalent  to  the  literal  prediction  re- 
specting the   Roman  beast^  that,  as   he  had  been,  so  he 

*  Rev.  xiii.  3,  14. 


9^ 

should  cease  to  be^  and  (tftertvards  should  again  be* 
This  being  the  case,  the  ten-horned  beast  received  his 
dead! If  wound.,  and  ceased  to  be  (for  these  two  phrases  are 
only  different  modes  of  expressing  the  same  thing,)  at 
the  period  when  Constantine  embraced  Christianity,  and 
became  the  protector  of  the  Church  :  and  his  deadly 
wound  was  healed,  and  he  began  agdin  to  be  (for  these 
two  phrases  in  a  similar  manner  are  only  ditTerent  modes 
of  expressing  the  same  thing,)  when  Phocas  setup  a 
spiritual  tyrant  to  wear  out  the  saints,  and  when  the  em-* 
pire  relapsed  into  idolatry.  It  is  specially  said,  that  the 
sixth  head  was  slain,  and  that  the  self-same  sixth  head 
revived  :  in  other  words,  the  beast  both  received  his 
deadhf  zcound,  and  had  that  dcadlif  ■wound  healed  so  that 
he  "  did  live,"  under  one  and  the  same  sixth  head.  The 
Jive  preceding  heads  ^\m\i\y  Jell :  they  died,  as  it  were, 
natural  deaths,  and  continued  pagan  from  their  first  rise 
to  their  final  fall.  But  llie  sixth  head  was  to  be  slain  : 
it  was,  like  its  five  predecessors,  to  be  pagan  at  its  first 
rise,  but  it  was  not  to  continue  so  :  it  was  to  cease  to 
exist  as  ^//e  head  of  a  least,  and  was  to  die  a  violent 
death  in  the  height  of  its  strength,  its  lifo  or  bestial 
'principle  being  taken  away  from  it  by  the  powerful 
preaching  of  the  word,  that  sword  of  the  Spirit  which 
is  twice  in  the  Apocalypse  represented  as  issuing  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Messiah.  Not  that  all  temporal  au- 
thoritij  was  to  be  annihilated  throughout  its  dominions  ; 
but  simply  its  life,  or  the  principle  wherebu  it  was  the 
head  of  a  tyrannical  idolatrous  empire,  was  to  be  taken 
avva}^     Yet,  notwithstanding  its  being  thus  slain*  it  was 

*  Vide  supra  Chap.  2.  I  shall  here  once  more  cite  Mr.  Mede's  excellent  defini- 
tion oijigtirai'tve  death.  "  Mori  ea  notione  dicitur  qui  in  quocunque  statu  constitutus, 
sive  politico  sive  ecclesiastico,  seu  quovis  alio,  desinit  esse  quod  fuit ;  unde  et  occidit 
qui  tali  morte  quemquam  afficit."  When  the  beast  then  was  wounded  to  death,  he 
ceased  to  be  what  he  had  been  before  :  but  a  beast  is  a  tyrannical  idolatrous  empire  : 
therefore /^'if  Rofnar.  beast, whtrnXakn  by  the  sword,  did  not  experience  political  subver- 
sion (as  Bp.  Newton  supposes,}  but  simply  ceased  ro  be  what  he  had  been  before,  name- 
ly, a  tyrannical  idolatrous  empire.  Mr.  Lowman  very  justly  thinks,  that  the  life,  the 
death,  and  the  re-vival  of  the  beast  mean  the  very  same  as  his  being,  his  ceasiutr  to  be,  and 
iis  being  again  :  but  he  seems  to  me  greatly  to  mistake  the  import  of  the  two  sets  of 
phrases,  in  supposing  that  they  denote  the  overthroiv  of  the  Roman  empire  by  the  Goths, 
and  the  revitial  of  it  by  the  rise  of  the  Papacy.  In  fact,  the  Rrnian  empire  under  its  sixth 
lead  was  no!  overthrown  by  the  Goths ;  but  still  continued  to  subsist  under  that  same 
bead  at  Constantinople,  whither  the  seat  of  government  had  been  transferred  long 
before  the  loss  of  tlie  western  provinces. 


9o 

after  a  certain  period  to  revive :  its  deadii/  wound  was  to 
be  healed  :  the  vital  principle  of  bestiality^  whici)  was  for 
a  time  extinct,  was  again  to  be  infused  into  it :  it  was 
once  more  to  become  the  living  head  of  a  beast  or  an 
empire  in  direct  opposition  to  the  Gospel :  and  all  the 
world  was  to  go  a  wondering  after  the  new  idolatry  of 
the  revived  beasf^  as  they  had  formerly  wondered  after 
his  old  pagan  idolatry.  Accordingly  we  learn  from 
history,  that  the  Roman  beast  was  both  slain^  or  ceased 
to  he^  under  his  sixth  head ;  that  the  empire  continued 
as  a  Christian  state  under  the  same  sixth  head ;  and  that 
under  the  same  sixth  head  likewise  it  revived^  and  once 
mote  came  into  existence  as  a  beast.  \n  the  year  3\3 
then,  when  Constantine  published  his  famous  edict  for 
the  advancement  of  Christianity,  the  beast  was  wound- 
ed to  death  in  his  sixth  head;  and,  in  the  year  606", 
when  he  delivered  the  saints  into  the  hand  of  an  idola- 
trous spiritual  tyrant,  his  deadly  wound  was  healed,  he 
became  a  living  anti-evangelical  power^  and  he  com- 
pletely resumed  all  the  bestial  functions  of  his  former 
pagan  character.  The  space  therefore  between  the  year 
313  and  the  year  606  is  the  space  of  time,  during  which 
the  beast  was  dead^  or,  as  St.  John  otherwise  expresses  it, 
xdas  not.^ 

This  interpretation  of  the  death  and  revival  of  the 
Roman  beast  under  his  sixth  head  will  be  found  to  be 
the  only  one  that  accords  with  the  general  tenor  of  sym- 
bolical language.  In  Daniel's  vision  of  the  four  beasts 
we  read,  that  the  Roman  beast  is  to  be  slain f  at  the  end 

f  I  have  been  informed  by  a  friend  who  has  paid  much  attention  to  the  subject  of 
prophecy  (the  Rev.  T.  White,)  that  this  very  interpretation  of  t^je  death  and  revivai 
of  the  beast  was  given  many  years  ago  by  Dr.  Henry  More.  He  says,  that  the  beast 
was  slain  under  his  sixth  head  by  ceasing  to  be  idolatrous,  and  that  he  revived  by  re- 
lapsing a  second  time  into  idolatry.  I  have  never  had  an  opportunity  of  reading 
the  Mystery  of  Iniquity,  but  I  feel  myself  considerably  strengthened  in  my  opinion  by 
the  sanction  of  so  able  a  writer. 

*  St.  John  predicts  his  destruction  in  somewhat  different  terms.  Instead  of  saying 
that  be  should  be  slaiH,  he  represents  him  as  being  cast  ali've  into  hell.  The  discrepancy 
however  is  more  apparent  than  real.  Daniel  briefly  describes  the  subversion  of  his 
power,  and  intimates  that  his  body  should  be  given  to  the  burning  flame  :  St.  John 
describes  at  large  the  manner  in  which  the  apostate  faction  v/ill  be  overthrown,  and 
the  future  punishment  of  those  that  were  members  of  the  beast  by  receiving  his  mark 
and  worshipping  his  image.  Though  the  beast  shall  begin  to  be  slain  when  the  1260 
days  shall  have  expired,  and  though  a  new  and  luippy  order  of  tilings  will  succeed 


96 

of  the  1260  years,  but  that  the  lives  of  the  other  beasts 
are  to  be  prolonged  for  a  season  and  a  time,  though  their 
dominion  be  taken  a»\'ay.  Now,  since  the  triumphant 
reign  oi  the  saints  upon  earth  is  to  succeed  to  the  death 
of  the  Roman  beasts  1  know  not  what  warrant  there  is 
for  imagining  that  all  government  within  the  precincts 
of  the  Roman  empire  is  utterly  to  be  at  an  end.  It 
seems  more  reasonable  to  suppose,  that  a  happy  evangel- 
ical order  of  things  will  succeed  to  the  present  distracted 
Popish  state  of  the  Roman  world.  Such  being  the  case, 
the  death  of  the  beast  must  evidently  mean,  not  the  an- 
nihilation of  all  lawful  Christian  government,  not  a  Jac- 
obinical subversion  of  the  powers  that  be  upon  the  lawless 
principles  of  the  frantic  fifth-monarchy  men  in  the  six- 
teenth century  ;  but  the  utter  destruction  of  those  de- 
testable 7naxims  and  doctrines  which  constitute  his  best- 
ialitij,  which  are  his  very  life,  which  are  interwoven  even 
with  his  existence  as  a  beast,  without  the  profession  of 
which  he  would  not  be  a  beast.  This  is  yet  further 
manifest  from  the  predicted  fate  of  the  other  beasts 
Their  lives,  or  bestial  principles,  are  to  be  prolonged  dur- 
ing the  period  of  the  Millennium  ;  though  their  domin- 
ion, or pozcer  of  i7ij wring  the  Church  is  to  be  taken  away  : 
while  the  Roman  beast  is  to  be  slain;  his  principles  are 
to  be  utterlif  destroijed,  never  more  to  revive  ;  and  with 
the  destruction  of  those  principles  the  dominion  of  his 
little  horn  is  to  be  finally  taken  away  ;  for  all,  both  gov- 
ernors and  governed,  will  ibrm  one  congregation  of  faith- 
ful worshippers,  one  great  empire  of  the  saints  of  the 
Most  High.*  Accordingly  we  find,  that  the  beasts 
whose  lives  zvere  prolonged,  in  other  words,  the  nations 
which  shall  adhere  to  the  vanities  of  the  Gentiles,  make 
a  grand  attack  at  the  close  of  the  Millennium  upon  the 
Church  :  but,  their  dominion  being  now  taken  away,  they 
entirely  fail  of  success,  and  are  consigned  to  the  same 
punishment  as  those  that  professed  and  taught  the  apos- 

to  his  destruction,  that  destruction  will  not  be  accomplished  without  a  dreadful 
slaughter  of  his  adherents  ;  "  there  sliall  be  a  time  of  trouble,  such  as  never  was, 
since  there  was  a  nation  even  to  that  same  time."  Compare  Dan.  vii.  11,  IG.  xii.  2. 
With  Rev.  six.  11—21. 

*  Dan.  vii.  1 1 ,  i'G. 


97 

tate  principles  oi  the  Roman  beast* — The  conclusion  to 
be  drawn  from  the  preceding  view  of  Daniel's  prophecy 
is  this.  Since  the  Jinai  death  of  the  Roman  heast^  there 
mentioned,  means  the  destruction  of  his  principles^  and 
since  the  prolongation  of  the  lives  of  the  other  beasts, 
means  the  prolonged  existence  of  their  principles ;  the 
frst  death  of  the  Roman  beast  under  his  sixth  liead^  men- 
tioned by  St.  John,  must  mean  (arguing  at  least  from 
analogy)  the  destruction  of  his  idolatrous  tijrannij  bif  the 
sicord  of  the  Spirit,  while  his  revival  by  the  healing  of 
his  dectdly  wound  must  in  a  similar  manner  signify  the 
renewed  existence  of  his  idolatrous  tyrannii-  This  inter- 
pretation is  yet  further  confirmed  by  the  declaration, 
that  the  beast  in  his  revived  or  papally-idolatrous  state, 
and  under  his  last  head,  should  go  into  perdition,  or  be 
utterly  destroyed,  "^  beast,  in  the  prophetic  style,  as 
we  before  observed,  is  a  tyrannical  idolatrous  empire  :  and 
the  Roman  empire  was  idolatrous  under //ie  heathen  Em- 
perors ;  and  then  ceased  to  be  so  for  some  time  under 
the  Christian  Emperors ;  and  then  became  idolatrous 
again  under  the  Roman  Pontiffs,  and  so  hath  continued 
ever  since.  It  is  the  same  idolatrous  power  revived  again, 
but  only  in  another  form  ;  and  all  the  corrupt  part  of 
mankind,  whose  names  are  not  inrolled  as  good  citizens 
in  the  registers  of  heaven,  are  pleased  at  the  revival  of  it ; 
but  in  this  last  form  it  shall  go  into  perdition  ;  it  shall 
not,  as  it  did  before,  cease  for  a  time,  and  revive  again, 
but  shall  be  destroijed  for  ever^* 

1  have  made  this  citation  with  great  pleasure  from  the 
writings  of  Bp.  Newton,  as  containing  what  1  believe  to 
be  the  true  explanation  of  the  existence,  the  non-existence, 
and  the  re-existence,  of  the  Roman  beast.  All,  that  his 
Lordship  has  said  upon  this  subject,  is  excellent,  and  im- 
mediately to  the  purpose  :  my  wonder  therefore  is,  that, 
after  having  adopted  so  judicious  and  consistent  a  mode 
of  exposition,  he  should  so  completely  have  departed 
from  it  in  what  he  says  relative  to  the  death  and  revival 
of  the  beast  under  his  sixth  head.  In  explaining  this  part 
of  the  prophecy,  instead  of  strictly  maintaining  the  anal> 

♦  Rev.  XX.  8,  9,  10.  f  Bp.  Newton'e  Dissert,  on  Rev.  rrii. 

VOL.    II.  ]3 


9S 

ogy  of  symbolical  language  and  adhering  to  the  plan  of 
exposition   which  he  himself  lays  down,    he   suddenly 
adopts  an  entirely  new  system,  and  supposes  the  death 
of  the  beast  under  his  sixth  head  to   mean  the  subversion 
of  the  Western  empire^  and  his  revival  to  mean  the  rise  oj' 
the  Carlovirm;ian  empire.     "  The  sixth   head"  says   he, 
"  was  as  it  were   wounded   to    death,    when  the  Roman 
empire  was  overturned  by  the  northern  nations,  and  an 
end  was  put  to  the  very  name  of  Emperor  in  Momyllus 
Augustulus  :  or  rather,  as  the  government  of  the  Gothic 
kings  was  much  the  same  as  that  of  the  Emperors  with 
only  a  change  of  the  name,  this  head  was  more  effectu- 
ally wounded  to  death,   when    Rome  was   reduced  to  a 
poor  dukedom,  and  made  tributary  to  the  Exarchate  of 
Ravenna — But  not  only  one  of  his  heads  was  as   it  were 
wounded  to  death,  but  his  deadlij  wound  was  healed.     If 
it  was  tlie  sixth  head  which  was  wounded,   that  wound 
could  not  be  healed  by  the  rising  of  the  seventh  head  as 
interpreters  commonly  conceive  :  the  same  head.,  which 
was  wounded,  must  be  healed  :  and  this  was  effected  by 
the  Pope  and  people  of  Rome  revolting  from  the  Exarch 
of  Ravenna,  and  proclaiming  Charles  the  great  Augustus 
and  Emperor  of  the  Romans.     Here  the  zoounded  imperial 
head  was  healed  again,  and  hath  subsisted  ever  since."* 
This  scheme,  independent  of  its  manifest  violation  of  that 
plan  of  symbolical  exposition  which  the  Bishop  himself 
had  so  justly  laid  down  respecting  the  existence,  the  non- 
existence., and  the  revival.,  oi  the  beast.,  is  certainly  unsup- 
ported by  history.     According  to  the  prophecy,  the  sixth 
head.,  in  some  sense  or  another,    was  to   be   nwunded  to 
death  or  slain  by  a  sivord,  and  was  afterwards  to  revive 
again.     But,  according  to  the  Bishop's  explanation,  the 
sixth  head  was  mc)St  assuredly  ??ot  slain  in   the   sense   in 
which   he   understands  the    expression.        The  zcester//. 
branch  o^  the  sixth  or  imperial  head  was  indeed  subvert- 
ed by  Odoacer  and  his  mercenaries  ;  but   the  sixth  head 
itself  vvas    not  slain,    (supposing  the  phrase  ivonnded  to 
death  bij  a  sword  io  mean  political  subversion)  till  man; 
ages  afier.     It  still  subsisted  in  the  person   of  the  Cor- 

*  Dissert,  on  Rev.  xiii. 


99 

slantinopolitan  Emperor  ;  and  was  not  finally  slain,  or 
i!ooimded  to  death,  (supposing  with  the  Bishop  that  the 
phrase  means  political  subversion)  till  the  days  of  the 
Turkish  horsemen  under  the  second  woe.  And  when  at 
length  it  was  thusjinalli/  slain  by  the  arms  of  the  Turks, 
it  has  never  since  revived,  nor  is  it  likely  to  revive.  Hence 
it  is  manifest,  that  we  must  seek  for  some  other  mode  of 
explaining  t/ie  death  and  j^evival  of  the  sixth  head  :  and 
I  know  not  any  events  in  its  history,  which  will  satisfac- 
torily explain  those  circumstances  in  a  manner  agreeable 
both  to  the  language  of  symbols,  atid  to  the  collateral 
prediction  that  the  beast  should  be,  should  not  be^  and 
should  be  as;ain,  except  its  dt/ing  in  the  qualitij  of  a  head 
of  the  beast  bij  embracing  Christianitij,  and  its  reviving  in 
the  same  quality  bij  its  relapsing  into  an  idolatrous  tyranny 
the  same  in  nature  though  not  in  name  as  its  former  idoltt' 
trous  ttfranntf  zohile  in  a  pagan  state. 

The  scheme  of  Mr.  Whitaker  seems  to  me  to  depart 
yet  more  widely  from  symbolical  analogy,  and  to  be  still 
less  tenable,  than  that  of  Bp.  Newton.  Notwithstanding 
St.  John  informs  us,  that  five  of  the  heads  were  fallen 
when  he  wrote,  thereby  plainly  shuttijig  them  out  from 
having  any  connection  with  the  prophecies  which  he  was 
commissioned  to  deliver,  Mr.  Whitaker  supposes,  that 
the  zcounded  head  was  not  tlic  imperial  but  the  dictatorial 
head ;  that  it  received  its  deadly  xoound  by  a  sword  when 
Julius  Cesar  was  assassinated  ;  that  it  was  healed  by  the 
establishment  g^  the  papal  power,  which  he  conceives  to 
be  only  the  Dictatorship  revived ;  and  that  thus,  com- 
puting as  in  the  days  of  St.  John,  it  had  been,  was  not, 
and  ijet  shall  hereafter  be — The  arguments,  which  Mr. 
Whitaker  brings  in  support  of  his  opinion,  1  cannot  but 
think  perfectly  inconclusive — Nothing  can  be  more  wild 
than  to  pronounce  the  Papacij  to  be  the  same  head  as  the 
Dictatorship,  merely  because  the  power  claimed  by  the 
Popes  bears  some  resemblance  to  that  actuallt/  possessed 
by  the  ancient  Dictators.  Yet  this  is  the  only  proof  of 
their  identity,  adduced  by  Mr.  Whitaker* — The  icounded 

"  Even  if  the  resemblance  were  perfect,  which  it  is  not,  for  the  Popes  r^Qvar  possessed, 
rhough  they  might  claim.,  the  Dictatorial  power  ;  still  were  resemblance  will  not 
constitute  identity.    "  The  Pope"  says  Bp.  Newton,  "  is  the  most  perfect  likeness 


100 

head  moreover  was  a  form  of  government ;  consequently 
its  dead/if  wouud^  whatever  the  precise  nature  of  that 
wound  may  be,  must  be  understood  figuratively  :  we  shall 
therefore  most  unwarrantably  depart  from  the  language 
of  symbols,  if  we  suppose  that  the  death  of  the  head  means 
the  murder  of  an  individual  dictator  ;  to  say  nothing  of  the 
impossibility  of  shewins^  how  the  rise  of  Popery  could 
heal  the  literal  wounds  of  Julius  Cesar — Lastly,  the  qx- 
pression  1^05",  ?.y  not^  and  yet  is,  however  commentators 
may  think  proper  to  interpret  it,  can  have  no  relation  to 
the  particular  age  in  which  St.  John  flourished.  It  is 
used  by  the  angel,  not  in  speaking  o^the  Roman  beast*  as 
he  had  alreadij  been,  then  loas  in  the  days  of  the  Apostle, 
and  ii)as  hereafter  about  to  be  ;  but  in  speaking  of  him  in 
his  revived  state,  that  state  in  which  he  ascended  out  of 
the  sea,  that  state  which  is  contradistinguished  both  from 
Ms  former  pao'an  existence,  and  his  intermediate  Christian 
non-existence  in  his  bestial  character.  Now  the  beast  re- 
vived and  ascended  out  of  the  sea  at  the  beginning  of  the 
1260  daijs,  or  in  the  year  606.  Consequently  in  the  year 
606  the  beast  began  to  enter  upon  his  new  character  :  his 
deadly  zoound  was  tlien  healed  :  he  received  life  afresh  : 
and  all  the  world  wondered  after  him,  as  they  had  done 
previous  to  his  death.  He  had  been  :  he  had  ceased  to 
be  :  and  now  once  more  zvas-\ — Nothing  in  short,  that 
Mr.  VVhitaker  has  said  relative  to  this  mysterious  phrase, 
induces  me  to  give  up  the  interpretation  of  it  proposed  by 
Bp  Newton  :  and,  had  his  Lordship  only  considered  the 
death  and  the  revival  of  the  beast  always  in  the  same  sense ; 
had  he  only  considered  his  death  by  the  stroke  of  the 
sword  to  be  equivalent  to /iw  non-existence,  and  his  livi?ig 

and  resemblance  of  t/je  ancient  Roman  emperors.^'  Hence,  supposing  the  image  of  the 
isast  tq  mean  t/je  efi^les  of  the  blast,  he  supposed  the  Pope  to  be  that  image.  Yet  he 
never  fancied,  that  this  similarity  authorized  him  to  say,  that  the  Pope  was  an  Em- 
peror, or  that  the  Papal  headvfzs,  the  Imperial  head  recovered  from  its  deadly  ivound  SO  that 
tie  Emperorship  and  the  Papacy  constituted  jointly  only  one  head. 

*  We  may  observe  moreover  that  this  phrase  is  not  applied  to  a  head  of  the  beast, 
;ts  Mr.  Whitaker's  scheme  necessarily  supposes,  but  to  the  beast  himself.  The  mere 
abolition  of  the  Dictatorship  did  not  make  the  Roman  beast  himself  cease  to  be,  in  any 
sense  of  which  the  words  are  naturally  capable. 

f  St.  John  seems  to  have  first  beheld  the  beast  floundering  in  the  sea  with  one  of 
his  heads  wounded  to  death.  Afterward  s  he  beholds  Iiim  reach  the  land  ;  and  im- 
ipediately  his  deadly  wound  is  healed. 


101 

agam  to  be  equivalent  to  his  re-existence ;  I  should  have 
had  nothing  more  to  do  than  simply  to  transcribe  his  ex- 
position of  this  part  of  the  prophecy.* 

Having  now  fully  considered  the  death  and  revival  of 
the  beast  under  his  sixth  head^  I  shall  proceed  to  state  in 
a  regular  chronological  series  some  of  the  most  promi- 
nent events,  which  took  place  during  the  time  that  the 
least  lay  dead,  and  after  his  revival  ;  in  order  that  we 
may  see,  whether  history  will  not  lead  us  to  some  satis- 
factory explanation  oi  the  rise  of  his  last  head. 

Immediately  after  the  death  of  Theodosius  in  the  year 
:j9j,  the  Roman  empire  began  to  be  invaded  by  the 
northern  barbarians  :  and,  scarceW  had  their  fury  ex- 
hausted itself,  when  Rome  was  attacked  from  the  south, 
and  its  strength  completely  broken,  by  the  Vandals  in 
the  year  A55.  Thus  debilitated,  it  still  nevertheless 
preserved  the  name  oi  an  empire  till  the  year  ■i^J^',  when 
Augustulus  was  deposed  by  Odoacer.  These  rude 
shocks  greatly  weakened  tlie  Roman  empire  considered 
as  one  grand  zvhole,  and  diminished  its  glory:  still  how- 
ever it  continued  to  subsist  in  the  East.  All  the  events 
here  enumerated,  are  predicted,  as  we  have  seen,  under 
the  Jour  first  trumpets.  To  the  kingdom  oj'  Odoacer  in 
Italy  succeeded  the  kingdom  of  the  Ostrogoths  in  the 
ijear  493.  This  subsisted  till  the  reign  of  the  Eastern 
emperor  Justinian,  when  it  was  subverted  by  the  con- 
quests of  Bellisarius  and  Narses,  whose  arms  delivered 
Rome  and  Italy  from  the  yoke  of  the  barbarians,  and 
united  them  once  more  to  the  empire.  The  events,  by 
which  so  great  a  revolution  was  effected,  succeeded  each 
other  in  the  following  order.  Bellisarius,  the  celebrated 
lieutenant  of  Justinian,  began  his  career  of  victory  by  re- 
covering from  the  Goths  the  African  province  in  the 
year  5.3.3  and  ,534.  His  next  exploit  was  the  invasion 
and  conquest  of  Sicily,  in  the  year  535.  Shortly  after, 
in  the  year  537,  he  entered  Italy  and  reduced  Naples. 
In  536^  he  made  himself  master  of  Rome,  which  the 
Goths  vainly  attempted  to  take  from  him.  In  539,  he 
subdued  the  Gothic  kingdom  of  Italy,   and  took  A'itiges 

*  See  Wkltaker's  Comment  p.  213—216. 


102 

its  sovereign  prisoner.  Afterwards,  during  his  absence, 
Rome  was  again  occupied  by  the-  Goths  ;  but,  in  5A7,  it 
was  once  more  recovered  by  him.  A  third  time  it  was 
taken  by  the  Goths,  in  549  ;  and  a  third  time,  in  552,  it 
was  regained  by  the  eastern  Romans,  under  the  eunuch 
Narses.  The  defeat  and  death  of  the  last  Gothic  sov- 
ereign of  Italy  speedily  followed  :  but  it  was  not  long, 
ere  Narses  had  to  contend  with  a  fresh  swarm  of  nor- 
thern barharians.  In  553,  Italy  was  invaded  by  the 
Franks  and  Alemans :  in  55^,  they  were  totally  defeat- 
ed by  Narses  :  and  the  period,  which  elapsed  between 
the  years  554-  and  5^^'^,  was  occupied  in  the  final  settle- 
ment of  Italy.  That  country,  thus  restored  to  its  origi- 
nal masters,*  vi'as  henceforth  administered  as  a  province 
o^  the  Eastern  empire^  by  an  imperial  officer,  styled  the 
Exarch  of  Ravenna  :  "  the  remains  of  the  Gothic  nation 
evacuated  the  country,  or  mingled  with  the  people: 
and  the  Franks  abandoned,  without  a  struggle,  their 
Italian  conquests."-|' 

Ail  these  events  took  place  during  the  time  that  the 
beast  lay  dead,  or,  as  it  is  otherwise  expressed,  xi}as  not. 
Consequently,  since  he  revived  under  the  same  sixth 
head  that  had  been  mortally  wounded,  we  shall  find  it  a 
fruitless  labour  to  look  during  this  period  for  the  rise  of 
ftnij  poicer  that  answers  to  the  description  given  of  the 
last  head. 

The  Exarchate  of  Ravenna,  though  engaged  in  per- 
petual struggles  with  the  Lombards,  lasted  about  170 
years,  in  the  course  of  which  time,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
beast  revived,  and  the  papal  little  horn  commenced  its 
tyrannical  reign  of  1^60  prophetic  days. 

The  extinction  (►f  the  Exarchate  of  Ravenna  by  the 
Lombards,  and  the  ambitious  views  of  their  king  Aistul- 
phus,  were  not  beheld  by  the  Fope  with  indifference. 
Though  he  had  thrown  off  his  allegiance  to  the  Constan- 
tinopolitan  Emperor,  he  soon  found  that  he  was  but  ill 
adapted  to  cope  with  the  arms  of  a  victorious  prince.   In 

*  That  part  of  Italy  however,  which  has  since  borne  the  name  of  Lovibardy,  was 
almost  immediately  wrested  from  the  Eastern  Emperors  by  Alboin  and  his  Lom? 
bards.     Tlie  history  of  this  event  has  been  stated  iu  a  preceding  chapter. 

f  Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  vii.  p.  399. 


103 

this  emergency,  he  apphed  for  help  to  Pi  pin  king  of 
France  ;  who  speedily  poured  into  Italy  at  the  head  ofa 
large  army,  dispossessed  the  Lombard,  and  conferred  the 
Exarchate  of'  Ravenna  upon  the  Pope.  Still  the  Bishop 
of  Rome  found  himself  too  weak  to  be  an  absolutely  in- 
dependent prince.  After  the  grant  o^  the  Exarchate  by 
Pipin,  he  received  from  his  son  and  successor  Charle- 
magne the  investiture  of  «  considerable  part  ofT^omhar- 
dij  and  of  the  Dukedom  of  Rome ^  which  he  held  as  hefs 
under  that  monarch,  though  fiefs  of  the  most  honourable 
nature  :*  and  in  the  following  reign  of  Louis  the  pious, 
he  obtained  a  grant  of  those  countries  to  hold  them 
"  in  his  own  right,   principality,  and  dominion."f 

In  return  for  the  various  benefits  which  the  Romans 
had  received  from  the  Carlovingian  princes,  '' the  de- 
crees of  the  senate  and  people  successively  invested 
Charles  Martel  and  his  posterity  with  the  honours  of 
Patrician  of  RomeP  This  appellation  had  formerly 
been  borne  by  the  Exarchs  of  Ravenna,  who  were  the 
mere  lieutenants  of  the  Eastern  Emperor.  "The  lead- 
ers therefore  ofa  powerful  nation  would  have  disdained 
a  servile  title  and  subordinate  office  :  but  the  reign  of 
the  Greek  emperors  was  suspended  ;  and,  in  the  vacan- 
cy of  the  Empire,  they  derived  a  more  glorious  commis- 
sion from  the  Pope  aiid  the  Republic.  The  Roman  am- 
bassadors presented  these  Patricians  with  the  keys  of 
the  shrine  of  St.  Peter,  as  a  pledge  and  symbol  of  sov- 
ereignty ;  and  with  a  holy  banner,  which  it  was  their 
right  and  duty  to  unfurl  in  the   defence  of  the  church 

*  The  Popes  "  were  compelled  to  choose  between  the  rival  nations"  of  the  East 
and  the  West :  "  religion  was  not  the  sole  motive  of  their  choice  ;  and,  while  they 
dissembled  the  failings  of  their  friends,  they  beheld  vnx\i  reluctance  and  suspicion, 
the  catholic  virtues  of  their  foes.  The  difference  of  language  and  manners  had  per- 
petuated the  enmity  of  the  two  capitals ;  and  thev  were  alienated  from  each  other 
by  the  hostile  opposition  of  seventy  years.  In  that  schism  the  Romans  had  tasted 
of  freedom,  and  the  Popes  of  sovereignty :  their  submission  would  have  exposed 
them  to  the  revenge  of  a  jealous  tyrimt ;  and  the  revolution  of  Italv  had  betrayed 
the  impotence,  as  well  as  the  tyranny  of  the  Byzantine  court  :"  while,  by  revi^oj^g 
the  western  empire,  "  the  Roman  church  would  acquire  a  zealous  and  respectable 
advocate;  and,  under  the  shadow  of  Carlovingian  power,  the  Bishop  m-? it  ex- 
ercise, with  honour  and  safety,  the  government  of  the  city."  (Hist,  of  Decline 
and  Fall,  Vol.  ix.  169,  170,  ITI.)  According  to  Mosheim,  the  Popes  held  Kome 
under  the  Empire  as  the  most  honourable  species  of  fief  or  benefice.  Instit.  Hist. 
Eccles.  p.  2G4,  265.  cited  by  Gibbon. 

f  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  xiv. 


104 

and  city.  In  the  time  of  Charles  Martel  and  of  Pipin, 
the  interposition  of  the  Lombard  kingdom  covered  the 
freedom,  while  it  threatened  the  safety,  of  Rome  ;  and 
the  Patriciate  represented  only  the  title,  the  service,  the 
alliance,  of  these  distant  protectors.  The  power  and 
policy  of  Charlemagne  annihilated  an  enemy,  and  im- 
posed a  master.  In  his  first  visit  to  the  capital,  he  was 
received  with  all  the  honours  which  had  formerly  been 
paid  to  the  Exarch^  the  representative  oi  the  Emperor; 
and  these  honours  obtained  some  new  decorations  from 
the  joy  and  gratitude  of  Pope  Adrian  the  first — In  the 
portico,  Adrian  expected  him  at  the  head  of  his  clergy  : 
they  embraced,  as  friends  and  equals  :  but,  in  their 
march  to  the  altar,  the  king,  or  Patrician  assumed  the 
right  hand  of  the  Pope.  Nor  was  the  Frank  content 
with  these  vain  and  empty  demonstrations  of  respect. 
In  the  26  years  that  elapsed  between  the  conquest  of 
Lombardy  and  his  imperial  coronation,  Rome,  which  had 
been  delivered  by  the  sword,  was  subject,  as  his  own, 
to  the  sceptre,  of  Charlemagne.  The  people  swore  al- 
legiance to  his  person  and  family  :  in  his  name  money 
was  coined,  and  justice  was  administered:  and  the  elec- 
tion of  the  Popes  was  examined  and  confirmed  by  his 
authority.  Except  an  original  and  self-inherent  claim 
of  sovereignty,  there  was  not  any  prerogative  remaining, 
which  the  title  of  Emperor  could  add  to  the  Patrician 
of  Rome."* 

Thus  it  was  that,  by  the  conquest  of  Lombardy  in  the 
year  774,  Charlemagne  acquired  the  undisputed  sover- 
eignty of  Italy.  The  Patriciate  of  the  Exurvhs  was  a 
subordinate  dignity  emanating  from  the  Constantinopol- 
itan  Emperors  :  The  Patriciate  of  Charles  Martel  and 
Pipin  was  a  mere  title  so  long  as  the  kingdom  of  the 
Lombards  subsisted  :  but  tJie  Patriciate  of  Charlemagne 
was  an  independent  monarchy,  which  owned  no  superi- 
or, which  exercised  real  authority,  and  which  differed 
from  the  Emperorship  that  succeeded  it  in  name  only, 
not  m  essence. 

*  Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  ix.  p.  153—156. 


105 

The  memorable  year  800  beheld  the  Carlovingian  Pa- 
iriciate  for  ever  swallowed  up  and  lost  in  the  Gothic  im- 
perial dignitij. 

"  On  the  festival  of  Christmas,  the  last  year  of  the 
eighth  century,  Charlemagne  appeared  in  the  church  of 
St.  Peter ;  and,  to  gratify  the  vanity  of  Rome,  he  had 
exchanged  the  simple  dress  of  his  country  for  the  habit 
oi  a  patrician.  After  the  celebration  of  the  holy  mys- 
teries, Leo  suddenly  placed  a  precious  crown  on  his 
head  ;  and  the  dome  resounded  with  the  acclamations  of 
the  people,  Long  life  and  -ciciorij  to  Charles,  the  most 
pious  Augustus^  crozvned  by  God  the  great  and  pacific 
Emperor  of  the  Romans  !  The  head  and  body  of  Charle- 
magne were  consecrated  by  the  royal  unction  :  after  the 
example  of  the  Cesars  he  was  saluted  or  adored  by  the 
Pontiff  :  his  coronation  oath  represents  a  promise  to 
maintain  the  faith  and  privileges  of  the  church  ;  and  the 
first-fruits  were  paid  in  his  rich  offerings  to  the  shrine  of 
the  Apostle.  In  his  familiar  conversation,  the  Emperor 
protested  his  ignorance  of  the  intentions  of  Leo,  which 
he  would  have  disappointed  by  his  absence  on  that 
memorable  day.  But  the  preparations  of  the  ceremony 
must  have  disclosed  the  secret ;  and  the  journey  of 
Charlemagne  reveals  his  knowledge  and  expectation  : 
he  had  acknowledged  that  the  imperial  title  was  the  ob- 
ject of  his  ambition  ;  and  a  Roman  senate  had  pro- 
nounced, that  it  was  the  only  adequate  reward  of  his 
merit  and  services."* 

Let  us  now  examine  bow  far  these  historical  facts 
will  enable  us  to  interpret  the  prophecy. 

The  head,  ov  form  of  government,  of  which  we  are  in 
quest,  is  represented  by  the  prophet  as  possessing  a  pe- 
culiarity of  character,  which  essentially  distinguishes  it 
from   all    its   predecessors  ;  it  was,  in   some  manner  or 

*  Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  ix.  p.  173,  174.  Let  the  reader  seriously  consider 
the  whole  of  this  and  the  preceding  citation,  and  then  decide  whether  the  Pope  ap- 
pears -very  much  like  ths  last  independent  head  of  the  Roman  beast  in  the  presence  of  his 
master  Charlemagne. 

The  coronation  oath  of  Charlemagne  was  couched,  according  to  Baronius,  in 
the  following  terms.  "  In  nomine  Christi  spondeo  atque  polliceor,  ego  Carolus  Im- 
perator,  coram  Deo  et  beato  Petro  .Apostolo,  me  protectorem  ac  defensorem  fore 
hujus  sanctx  Romance  ecclesiae  in  omnibus  utilitatibus,  qua  tenus  divino  fultus  fuero 
adjutorio,  prout  sciero  poteroque."  Annal.  Eccles.  A.  D.  800. 
VOL.  II.  14 


106 

iinother,  to  be  a  double  head,:  it  was  at  once  to  be  both 
the  seventh  and  the  eighth  head  o^  the  beast.     That  these 
two  heads,  orfonns  of  government,   are  in  fact  but  one^ 
may   be   plainly  collected   from   the  words  of  St.  John. 
When  the  seventh  king    "  cometh,   he  must  continue  a 
short  space  :   and  the  beast,   that  was,  and  is  not,   even 
he  is  the  eighth,  and  is  of  the  seven."     In  other  words, 
although   the  beast   may  in  some   sort  be   said   to  have 
eight  heads,   or  eight  forms  of  government,   yet  strictly 
speaking  he  has  but  seven  :   for  his  eighth  head  is  in  re- 
ality the  same  as  one  of  his  seven  heads.     The  question 
then  is,  with   uvhich  of  the  seven  heads  must  t!ie  eighth 
head  be  identified  !  This  eighth  head  certainly  cannot  be 
the  same  as  any  one  of  the  Jr^c  first  heads  ;  for  they  were 
all  fallen  in  the  time  of  St.  John.     Neither  can  it  be  the 
same  as  the  sixth  head ;  for  that  was  already  existing  in 
the  days  of  the  prophet,  and  was  now  and  for  many  ages 
after  exising  at  Constantinople.     It  only  remains  there- 
fore, as  I  have  already  stated,  for  it  to  be  the  same  as  the 
seventh  head ;  which,  when  it  came,  was  to  continue  but 
a  short  space  of  time.      To  suppose  otherwise  indeed  is 
introducing  a  sort  o{  Hijsteronproteron  into  the  symbol- 
ical  character  of  the   Roman  beast :  for,  if  the  eighth 
head  he   the  same  as  anij  one  of  the  six  first,  tJie  beast, 
instead  of  being  finally  slain  under  liis  last  head,  will  go 
into  perdition   under  a  fiead  which  is  prior  in  point  of 
origin  to  tfie  seventh   that  continues  only  a  short  space. 
Hence  it  appears,   that,  since  the  seventh  fiead  and  t/ic 
eighth  head  are  are  in  reality  one  and  the  same,  we  can- 
not attach  any  meaning  to  the  short  continuance  of  the 
seventh  head,  except  this  :  that  some  pozver  should  be  a 
fiead  of  t fie  empire,  for  a  short  time  only,   in  one  capaci- 
tif ;  and  that  afterwards  it  should  still  remain  a  fiead  of 
the  empire,  even   till  the  final  destruction  of  its  bestial 
principles,  in  anotfier  capucitij  :  thus  constituting  at  once 
both  tfie  seventfi  and   cigfitJi  fieads  of  tfie  beast,  or,  if  I 
may  use  the  expression,  fiis  septimo-octave  fiead. 

At  the  time  when  tfie  beast  revived,  his  sixtfi  fiead 
was  seated  in.  tfie  East :  consequently  we  must  look 
for  the  rise  of  his  last  head  in  the  West.  Now  we  learn 
from  the  preceding  historical  statement,  that,  during  the 


107 

aion-existence  of  the  heast^  and  subsequent  to  his  reviv- 
al in  the  year  606,  the  following  powers  only  have  had 
any  sway  in  Rome  and  Italy  :  the  hne  of  the  ]Vestern 
emperors^  after  the  division  of  the  empire,  commencing 
with  Honorius  and  terminating  with  Augustulus  ;  the 
three  kingdoms  of  the  Heruli,  the  Ostrogoths,  and  the 
Lombards  ;  the  Exarchate  of  Ra~cemm  subject  to  the 
Eastern  emperors ;  the  Popedom ;  and  the  Curlouhigiau 
empire.  No  change  has  taken  place  in  Italy  subsequent 
to  the  rise  of  the  last  of  these  powers,  either  of  a  suffi- 
cient magnitude,  or  of  a  sufficiently  peculiar  nature,*  to 
warrant  our  seeking  for  the  last  head  of  the  beast  postei'i- 
or  to  the  ijear  800,  when  Charlemagne  was  crowned 
Emperor  of  the  Romans  :  nor  do  1  think,  that  we  have 
any  just  grounds  to  look  for  it  prior  to  the  revival  o^  the 
beast  under  his  sixth  head ;  nevertheless,  since  many 
have  fixed  the  rise  of  the  short-lived  seventh  head  pre- 
vious to  the  year  606  when  the  deadly  icound  of  the 
beast  was  healed,  1  felt  myself  bound  to  notice  the  pow- 
ers which  existed  in  Italy  before  that  year.  Among 
the  powers  then  here  enumerated  w'e  must  look  for  the 
seventh  and  eighth  heads  of  the  beast. 

1.  Mr.  Mede  conceives  tJie  seventh  head  to  be  the  line 
of  Western  emperors,  and  the  cigJith  head  to  be  the  Pa- 
pacy. Yiy  this  plan  he  makes  the  beast,  agreeably  to  thp 
prophecy,  to  have  apparently  eight  heads,  and  really  only 
seven;  the  line  oj'  the  Western  emperors,  which  con- 
tinued about  80  years,  being  in  fact  a  branch  of  the  sixth 
or  imperial  head.  It  appears  therefore,  that  in  order  to 
reduce  the  eight  heads  to  seven,  he  supposes  the  sixth 
and  the  seventh  to  constitute  jointly  one  imperial  head.-\ 

However  plausible  such  a  scheme  may  hs,  it  will  by 
no  means  bear  the  test  ofexamination,  even  independent 
of  the  objections  that  I  have  already  made  to  the  Papacy 

*  Since  this  -was  written,  Buonapart£  has  made  hiinself  master  of  all  Italy :  but  \vc 
cannot  reasonably  suppose,  that  the  latt  bead  of  the  beast  has  arisen  in  him  ;  both  be- 
cause, however  great  his  conquests  have  been,  they  have  not  been  greater  than 
those  of  Charlemagne  ;  and  bexrause,  if  we  suppose  the  laU  head  to  have  arisen  in 
him,  we  shall  make  the  beast  headless  during  the  whole  period  that  has  elapsed  be- 
tween the  fall  oithe  sixth  head  by  the  subversion  of  the  Constantinopolitan  empire, 
and  the  present  era,  Alay  I,  1806. 

t  Mede's  Works,  B.  V.  C,  12. p.  922.. 


108 

being  considered  the  last  head  of  the  secular  beast.  It  is 
not  enough  merely  to  reduce  the  eight  heads  to  seveuac- 
cording  to  an  arbitrary  system  o{  our  own  invention  :  we 
must  attend  to  the  express  words  of  the  prophecy,  other- 
wise we  in  fact  do  nothing.  Now  the  prophecy  declares, 
that  the  eighth  ^^«f/should  be  one  of  tiie  preceding  seven  : 
but  Mr.  Mede,  on  the  contrary,  makes  the  supposed  sev- 
enth head  to  be  one  of  the  preceding  six  ;  and  the  supposed 
eighth  head^  which  the  prophet  had  declared  should  be 
one  of  the  preceding  seven,  he  makes  to  be  quite  distinct 
from  ever//  one  q/'those  seven.  According  to  the  prophe- 
cy, we  are  first  to  pitch  upon  seven  distinct  heads,  and  then 
discover  an  eightli  /zcftf/ which  shall  be  the  same  as  one  of 
those  seven :  according  to  Mr.  Mede,  we  are  to  amalga- 
mate the  sixth  and  the  seventh  heads,  and  then  discover 
a}i  eighth  which  shall  not  he  the  same  as  an//  of  those  sev- 
en. On  these  grounds,  1  think  the  plan  of  that  eminent 
expositor  perfectly  untenable. 

2.  Mr.  Sharpe  supposes  the  seventh  head  to  be  the  three 
Gothic  kingdoms  that  succeeded  the  imperial  sixth  head 
in  the  supreme  government  of  Rome,  and  the  eigth  head 
to  be  the  Papacij.* 

This  scheme  is  objectionable  in  every  point  of  view^ 
Three  successive  kingdoms  cannot  reasonably  be  esteem- 
ed one  head.  And,  even  if  this  were  no  objection,  others 
would  immediately  arise.  The  kiuglij  head  was  the  first 
of  the  heads  of  the  beast:  consequently  Mr.  Sharpe's 
scheme,  admitting  for  a  moment  these  three  kingdoms  to 
be  a  head,  amalgamates  the  seventh  head  with  the  first,  as 
that  of  Mr.  Mede  amalgamated  the  seventh  head  with  the 
sixth.  Such  being  the  case,  every  objection,  that  has 
been  made  to  Mr.  Mede's  scheme,  applies  with  equal 
force  to  that  of  Mr.  Sharpe.  Tlie  eighth  head,  according 
to  both  these  plans,  instead  of  being  one  of  the  seven,  is 
perfectly  distinct  from  them  all.  So  again  :  the  three 
kingdoms,  which  Mr.  Sharpe  supposes  to  constitute  the 
seventh  head  of  the  beast ;  are  three  of  his  ten  original 
horns.      If  then  they  be  three  horns  of  the  beast,  it  is 


p.  8,  9 


Appendix  to  three  tracts,  p.  28— Inquiry  into  the  description  of  Babylon, 


100 

sureiv  impossible  tliat  they  should  likewise,   and  that  in 
the  self-same  capacity,  be  one  of  his  heads* 

3,  Bp.  Newton  thinks,  that  Me  Exarchate  of  Ravenna 
is  the  seventh  head,  and  that  the  fupacj  is  the  eighth 
]iead.\ 

This  supposition  is  in  some  respects  even  more  objec- 
tionable than  the  two  preceding  ones. — in  thefrstplace_, 
it  does  not  consist  with  his  J^ordship's  own  sentiments 
respecting  the  Roman  beast.  In  a  former  dissertation  he 
had  maintained  (erroneously  indeed  i  am  persuaded), 
that  the  Exarchate  was  one  of  the  ten  horns  of  the  beast  : 
now  he  represents  it,  as  his  seventh  head.  But  the  self- 
same power  cannot,  in  the  self-same  capacitif.,  be  esteem- 
ed at  once  both  a  horn  and  a  head  of  the  same  beast — In 
the  second  place.,  no  modification  of  language  will  war- 
rant us  in  admitting,  that,  while  the  independent  Roman 
Emperor  of  Constantinople  is  the  sixth  head.,  his  mere 
dependent  lieutenant.,  the  Exarch  of  Ravenna,  is  the  sev- 
enth head :  for  this  would  be  to  place,  upon  the  very 
same  footing,  a  sovereign  and  his  viceroy  ;  the  fountain  of 
autJioritif  and  the  commissioned  governor  of  a  province^ — 
In  the  third  place,  the  seventh\head,  whatever  it  be,  must 
be  the  same  as  the  eighth  head;  the  two  forming  jointly 
one  double  septimo-octave  head  :  for,  unless  this  be  the 
case,  the  beast  will  reallij  have  eight  heads,  instead  of 
only  seven ;  the  very  contrary  of  which  is  expressly  as- 
serted by  the  prophet,  who,  in  order  to  shew  us  hoiv  the 
beast  has  only  seven  heads,  declares  that  the  eighth  is  one 
of  the  preceding  seven.  But  the  Bishop  never  supposes 
the  Exarch  of  Ravenna  to   be  the  eighth   head,  for  that 

*  It  is  almost  superfluous  to  observe,  that,  if  the  three  horns  jointly  cannot  be  th- 
seventh  head  of  the  beaU,  no  one  of  them  can  separately.  Forbes  supposes,  that  the 
kingdom  of  the  Ostrogoths  is  the  se-venth  head  (See  Pol.  Synop.  in  loc),  in  which  opinion 
Fleming  agrees  with  him.  (Apoc.  Key,  p.  16.)  But  why  should  this  kingdom 
be  pitched  upon  in  preference  to  that  of  the  Hcruli  and  thai  of  the  Lombards  ?  The 
objection  will  equally  apply  to  any  scheme  that  should  fix  upon  either  of  the  other  tii-c 
kingdoms  in  preference  to  the  tzuo  that  must  necessarily  be  excluded  :  and  every 
other  objection,  that  has  been  made  to  Rlr.  Sharpe's  scheme,  will  moreover  apply 
with  equal  force  to  all  schemes  similar  to  that  of  Forbes.  I  have  already  complain- 
ed, that  I  have  not  been  able  to  discover,  ivhat  three  Gothic  kingdoms  Mr.  Sharpe 
alludes  to,  from  the  circumstance  of  his  limiting  their  joint  duration  to  no  more 
than  70  years. 

f  Dissert,  on  Rev.  rvii. 

4  — "  the|Exarchs  of  Ravenna,  the  representatives  in  peace  and  war  of  the  Em- 
peror of  the  Romans."     Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  vii,  p.  398. 


no 

supposition  would  of  course  be  untenable :  the  eighth 
head  therefore  he  makes  to  be  the  Pope.  Hence  it  is 
manifest,  that,  upon  his  Lordship's  scheme,  the  beast  has 
actucdlff  eight  heads^  instead  of  h's^vm^  ou\y  seven  :  name- 
ly 1.  Kings;  2.  Consuls;  :3.  Dictators;  4.  Decemvirs; 
5.  Militar}'  Tribunes  ;  6.  Emperors  ;  7.  Exarchs  ;  and 
8.  Popes.  The  prophet  however  explicitly  declares, 
that  t]ie  eighth  head  is  o)ie  of  the  preceding  seven^  and 
that  the  beast  has  but  seven  heads :  with  which  then  of 
his  supposed  seven  predecessors  can  the  Pope  be  identi- 
fied \  Of  this  natural  objection  the  Bishop  seems  to  be 
aware  ;  and  accordingly  he  endeavours  to  parry  it,  but  in 
a  manner  to  me  at  least  not  at  all  satisfactory,  ev^n  allow- 
ing (vvliat  I  am  by  no  means  disposed  to  allow)  that  the 
Pope  may  be  justly  considered  the  last  head  of  the  secu- 
lar beast  in  his  character  o{  king  of  kings*  "  But  pos- 
sibly you  may  hesitate,  whether  this,"  namely  the  Exar- 
chate of  Ravenna^  "  is  properly  a  new  form  of  govern- 
ment, Rome  being  still  subject  to  the  imperial  power,  by 
being  subject  to  the  Greek  Emperor's  deputy  the  Exarch 
of  Ravenna  :  and,  according  as  you  determine  this  point, 
the  beast.,  thai  was,  and  is  not,  [n^as,  while  idolatrous  ;  and 
70as  »o/,while  not  adolatrous),  will  appear  to  be  the  seventh 
or  eighth.  If  you  reckon  this  «  new  form  of  govern- 
ment, the  beast  that  now  is  is  the  eighth ;  if  you  do  not 
reckon  this  a  new  form  of  government,  tlie  beast  is  (A  the 
seven:  but,  whether  he  be  the  seventh  or  eighth,  he  is 
the.  last  fori]}  of  government,  and  goeth  into  perdition.'^ 
To  this  statement  the  answer  is  sulficiently  easy.  St. 
John  first  enumerates  seven  distinct  heads,  and  then  in- 
troduces an  eighth,  teaching  us  that  the  beast  has  never- 
theless DO  more  than  seven  heads,  for  the  eighth  is  of  the 
seven.  If  then  the  beust  \\?c$,  seven  distinct  heads  at  the 
rise  oi  the  eighth, -hwA  yet  notwithstanding  the  rise  oi  the 
eighth  has  no  more  than  seven,  that  eighth  must  in  some 
sense  be  the  same  as  one  of  the  seven.  But,  upon  Bp. 
Newton's  plan  it  is  not  the  same  a^  anij  one  of  t he  seven: 
and,  in  order  to  get  quit  of  the  supposed  seventh  head  the 
Exarchate,  so  that  the  beast  by  the  addition  o(  the  Papa- 

*  I  have  already  sh.ewn  how  entirely  unsupported  euch  an  opinion  is  by  the 
testimony  of  history. 


Ill 

cif  may  still  have  no  more  than  seven^  he  sometimes  con> 
siders  the  ExarcJiatc  as  a  head,  and  sometimes  as  jiot  a 
head.* 

4.  Some  commentators,  probably  aware  of  the  difficul- 
ties here  enumerated,  difficulties  which  unavoidably  arise 
from  the  separation  of  the  se-centh  and  eighth  lieads^  have 
adopted  the  mode  of  exposition  which  I  believe  to  be  the 
true  one  ;  namely,  that  tlie  tzvo  heads  are  oi/e jjozcer  exist- 
ing in  a  tuO-J'ukl  capacitif  :  but  unfortunately  they  have 
for  the  most  part  not  attended  to  the  very  accurate  lan- 
guage in  which  St.  John  describes  tlie  munitcr  of  that  ex- 
istence. It  is  not  sufficient  to  discover  a  power  existing 
in  a  two-fold  capacity  mereli/  :  but  that  power  must  so 
exist,  that  it  must  cease  to  be  in  onf  capacity,  when  it 
hegitis  to  be  in  the  other.  When  tlie  seventh  head  "  Com- 
eth, he  must  continue  a  short  space  -y  he  is  not  to  co- 
exist with  the  eighth^  but  he  is  to  give  place  to  him.  The 
tioo  heads  therefore  must  be  one  power  existing  in  a  suc- 
cessive two-fold  capacity. 

All  the  commentators,  of  whom  I  am  now  speaking, 
suppose  tlie  Pope  to  be  this  double  or  scpfinto-octuvc  head. 
Accordingly  some  of  them  fancy,  that  he  is  one  of  the 
heads  in  his  temporal^  and  another  in  his  spiritual.,  capa- 
cittf ;  while  others  conceive,  that  he  is  one  head  as  the 
sovereign  of  his  own  dominions.,  and  another  as  king  of  the 
zvhole  zvorld\ — Now,  even  were  such  .schemes  liable  to 
no  other  objections,  it  would  be  sufficient  to  observe, 
that  these  writers  seem  quite  to  forget,  that  the  seventh 
head  is  represented  as  preceding  the  eighth,  and  as  con- 
tinuing only  a  short  space  :  whereas  both  the  temporal 
and  the  spiritual.,  both  the  particular-temporal  and  the 
universal-temporal  dominion  o{  the  Pope,  run  parallel  to 
each  other,  and  are  equally  even  now  in  existence,  each 
having  continued  a  long  time.ij: 

Mr.  Brightman  and  Mr.  Mann   of  the  Charter-house 

•  Mr.  I.owman's  interpretation  is  exactly  the  same  as  Bp.  Newton's,  and  is  con- 
sequently liable  to  the  very  same  objections'. 

f  See  Pol.  Synop.  in  loc. 
\  I  speak  as  adapting  myself  to  the  scheme  which  I  am  considering.     In  strict- 
ness of  language  the  um-jersal-Umporal  dominion  of  the  Pope  is  neither  at  present  in 
existence,  nor  ever  was  in  existence.     I  have  already  very  fully  shewn,  that   such 
dominion^  though  often  dalmid,  was  ne-ver  alloivcJ. 


112 

certainly  manage,  with  by  much  the  greatest  dexterity, 
the  supposition  that  the  Pope  is  the  double  or  scepiimo- 
octuic  head, 

Mr.  Brightman  thinks,  that  the  Pupacij  arose  in  its 
quahty  o{  the  seventh  heud^  when  Constantine  removed 
the  seat  of  empire  from  Rome  ;  that  this  short-lived 
head  continued  only  about  a  centurij  from  the  age  of 
Constantine,  when  it  was  overwhelmed  by  the  inunda- 
tion of  the  Goths  and  Vandals;  and  that  the  Papacy; 
lastly  arose  in  its  quality  of  the  eighth  head^  which  was 
to  be  one  oj" the  seven^  when  it  was  established  upon  the 
firm  basis  of  temporal  power  by  the  grants  of  Pipin  and 
Charlemagne.  Then  was  healed  the  deadly  wound 
which  the  seventh  ^papal  head  had  received  from  the 
Gothic  sword  ;  and  then  did  that  same  head^  considered 
as  the  eighth  papal  head,  rear  itself  up  again  with  greater 
vigour  than  it  had  ever  possessed* — Independent  of  the 
impropriety  o{  at  all  considering  the  Pope  as  a  head  of 
the  beast,  this  scheme  is  in  other  respects  liighiy  objec- 
tionable. So  far  was  the  Bishop  of  Rome  from  becoming 
« //6'r/(:/ of  the  empire,  by  the  secession  of  Constantine 
from  the  ancient  capital,  that  he  stiil  continued  a  mere 
subject  of  his  sovereign,  as  much  a  subject  in  short  as 
any  other  bishop  :  we  may  therefore  safely  pronounce, 
that,  during  at  least  a  ceutari)  after  the  Constantinian 
age,  the  period  assigned  by  Air.  Brightman  for  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  short-lived  seventh  head,  no  nezD  head 
whatsoever  arose.  And  again  :  so  far  was  this  supposed 
seventh  head  horn  being  slain  by  the  Gothic  sword,  and 
from  reviving  afterwards  in  the  capacity  of  the  eighth 
head,  that  the  incursions  of  the  northern  barbarians,  as 
Machiavel  most  justly  observes,  contributed  more  than 
any  circumstance  whatsoever  to  advance  the  power  of 
the  Papacij.  They  did  not  slaij  it  ;  but  they  nourished 
it,  and  gradual!}'  gave  it  strength  and  co?isistencf/.'\  Thus 
it  appears,  that  Mr.  Briglitman's  scheme  is  wholly  un- 
supported by  history. 

Mr.  Mann,  on    the  other  hand,  conceives,   that  the 

*  Briglitman's  Apoc.  Apoc.  Fol.  273,  274. 
t  See  the  citations  from  Machiavel  iu  t/je  4tb  chaffer  of  this  Work.     See  likewiH 
the  citation  from  Sir  Isaac  Newton. 


I 


113 

Pope  became  the  seventh  head  when  he  was  constituted 
supreme  head  of  the  Church  ;*  and  that  he  afterwards 
became  the  eighth  heud^  when  he  induced  the  Italians 
to  revolt  from  the  Emperor  Leo  on  the  score  of  image- 
worship. "j" — This  scheme  however  is  as  httle  tenable  as 
any  of  the  foregoing  ones.  The  seventh  head  was  to 
continue  but  a  short  space  :  the  ecclesiastical  supremacy 
of  the  Pope  has  continued  down  to  the  present  hour. 
The  seventh  head  of  a  secular  beast  must  be  a  secular 
pozver  :  the  ecclesiastical  sitpremacij  of  the  Pope  is  a 
purely  spiritual  power ;  nor  is  it  possible  to  conceive 
how  he  could  become  a  head  of  the  state  or  the  secular 
beast  by  being  constituted  head  of  the  Church.  The 
eighth  head  must  likewise  be  a  secular  power^  and  one 
moreover  so  large  that  at  its  first  rise  it  must  be  (as  we 
are  taught  by  the  prophet)  commensurate  in  a  manner 
with  the  zohole  beast :  the  temporal  authoriti/  of  the  Pope 
never  extended  beyond  his  own  dominions;  nor  is  it 
easy  to  imagine,  how  the  sovereign  of  an  Italian  princi- 
palitij  can  be  the  last  secular  head  of  the  beast^  when  his 
temporal  supremacif  over  the  empire  was  at  no  time  ever 
acknowledged.^  }3ut,  if  the  Papaaj  be  not  the  double 
liead  of  the  beast  in  its  two-fold  spiritual  and  secular  ca- 
pacitij^  it  will  be  found  impossible  to  point  out  any  other 
manner  in  which  there  is  even  an  appearance  of  proba- 
bility that  it  might  be  that  head.  For,  supposing  the 
Pope  to  be  intended  by  the  double  or  septimo-octave  head 
of  the  beast,  where  are  we  to  draw  the  line  of  distinction 
between   his  two  characters  \    At  what  period  did   he 

*  Mr.  Mann  fixes  this  event  to  the  age  of  Justinian  ;  whereas  it  did  not  really 
and  permanently  take  place  till  the  year  606  in  the  reign  of  Phocas.  His  scheme 
however  is  improved,  instead  of  being  injured,  by  this  remark ;  because  it  short- 
ens the  interval  between  the  rise  of  /m  supposed  se-jenih  and  eighth  heads,  thereby  making 
it  more  consonant  with  the  prophecy. 

f  Mann's  M.  S.  cited  by  Bp.  Newton,  Dissert,  on  Rev.  xvii. 
i  Let  the  reader  attentively  reperuse  the  preceding  citations  from  Gibbon  rela- 
tive to  the  inauguration  of  the  Carloijingian  e?Kpire,  and  let  him  then  declare  whether 
iu  the  presence  of  Charlemagne  the  Pope  bears  any  resemblance  to  a  head  of  the  secu- 
lar Roman  beast.  At  that  period,  who  was  the  sovereign  of  Rome  and  Italy;  who, 
the  master  of  the  Western  empire  ?  Charlemagne  or  the  Pope  ?  Yet  so  far  will 
a  love  of  system  carry  some  writers,  that  Mr.  Fleming  actually  speaks  oi  the  Pope 
becoming  at  this  period  the  real  king  of  Rotne,  and  represents  the  Ponan  Emperorship 
of  Charlemagne  as  being  a  mere  empty  title.  (Apoc.  Key,  p.  35.)  The  very  reverse 
of  this  is  what  we  learn  from  history.  Charlemagne  was  the  real  sovereign  of  the  wes- 
tern empire  :  and  the  Pope  held  the  dukedom  of  Rome  under  hirh  as  a  mere  feudal -vassal. 
VOL.    II.  1.3 


m 

-cease  to  be  i/te  seventh  head,  and  begin  to  be  the  eighth 
head  /  Or  in  what  sense  can  he  be  said  to  have  "  con- 
tinued a  short  space"  as  the  seventh  head  ?  History  vvili 
furnish  us  with  no  answer  to  these  questions. 

As  for  the  other  grounds  on  which  the  Pope  cannot  be 
esteemed  the  last  head  of  the  beast,  namely  because  bis 
claim  of  temporal  supremacy  was  never  allowed,  they 
liave  already  been  stated  so  fully  at  the  beginning  of  the 
present  chapter,  that  it  is  superfluous  here  to  recapitulate 
them. 

6.  It  remains  only,  that  we  inquire  how  far  the  Car- 
lovingian  empire  answers  to  the  prophetic  character  of 
the  double  head  of  the  beast. 

The  subversion  of  the  kingdom  of  Lombardy  in  the 
year  11  \  made  Charlemagne,  already  king  of  France,  the 
undisputed  master  of  Italy  under  the  title  of  Patrician 
of  Rome.  In  this  capacity,  he  granted  to  the  Pope  the 
fiefs  of  a  certain  part  of  Lombardy  and  of  the  whole  state 
of  Rome,  confirming  at  the  same  time  the  former  grant 
made  by  his  father  Pipin.  Here  then,  in  the  regular 
chronological  order  of  prophecy,  after  the  beast  had  been 
wounded  to  death  under  his  sixth  head,  and  after  his  dead- 
ly xvound  had  been  healed,  we  behold  the  rise  of  the  Car- 
lovingian  Patriciate,  or  the  seventh  independent  temporal 
head  of  the  beast.  This  head  however,  when  it  came, 
was  to  continue  only  a  short  space ;  for  it  was  almost 
immediately  to  be  absorbed  in  the  eighth  head,  which  (the 
Apostle  informs  us)  is  in  reality  one  of  the  seven  although 
styled  the  eighth,  and  which  (I  have  shewn)  can  only  be 
identified  with  the  seventh  head  :  consequently  we  are  led 
to  expect,  that  the  tico  heads  are  to  be  so  intimately  blend- 
ed with  each  other,  as  to  form  jointly  only  one  septimo- 
octave  head.  Accordingly  we  fmd,  that.  Just  26  years 
after  its  rise,  the  seventh  head  was  for  ever  lost  in  the 
eighth  head.     In  the  ijearll\,^'  the  Car  lovingian  govern- 

*  J  date  the  rise  of  the  Patrician  head  from  the  conquest  of  Lombardy,  because  thr 
^n:rc  titular  Patriciate  rf  Charles  Martel  and  Pi  pin  then  first  became  a  real  form  of  gm-- 
trnment.  Sliould  the  reader  however  be  disjwsed  rather  to  date  its  rise  from  tli: 
time  when  the  title  was  conferred  upon  Charies  Martel,  the  prophecy  respecting 
tlie  shortness  of  its  duration  will  be  no  less  accomplished.  In  that  case,  it  will  have 
continued  about  50  years  instead  of  26  ;  cither  of  which  periods  may  justly  be  term- 
ed a  short  time.  As  for  the  Patriciate  of  the  Exarchs,  it  resembled  in  name  alone  tbt 
Patriciate  of  Cb  arUmagne.     They    bore   the   title  of  Pairiciati  as  dependent  viceroys  :  hi 


1L5 

ment  ofllalij  commenced  :  in  the  year  800,  Charlemagne 
assumed  the  imperial dignitij ^  which  has  ever  since  been 
borne  by  a  prince  within  the  limits  o^ the  old  Roman  em- 
pire, and  which  has  ever  since  given  him  precedence 
over  the  ten  horn^  by  constituting  him  in  a  manner  their 
head*  Here  then  we  behold  the  rise  of  the  septimo- 
octane  head  of  the  beast  :\  a  matter  so  evident,  that  a 
writer,  in  this  respect  certainly  unprejudiced,  was  natu- 
rally led  by  circumstances  to  bestow  this  very  title  upon 
Charlamagne.  Pointing  out  the  motives,  by  which  the 
Popes  were  induced  to  espouse  the  cause  oi  the  French 
monarch  in  preference  to  that  o^ the  Byzantine  emperors, 
he  observes,  that  "  the  name  of  Charlemagne  was  stain- 
ed by  the  polemic  acrimony  of  his  scribes  :  but  the  con- 
queror himself  conformed,  with  the  temper  of  a  states- 
man, to  the  various  practice  of  France  and  Italy.     In  his 

bore  it  as  an  independent  prince,  while  the  reign  of  the  Greek  Emperors  was  suspend- 
ed, and  during  what  Mr.  Gibbon  styles  "  the  vacancy  of  the  Empire" 

*  From  the  days  of  Charlemagne,  the  Emperor  has  always  claimed,  and  has  always 
been  allowed,  precedence  over  e-very  one  of  the  ten  horns :  and  as  such  he  has  invariably 
been  considered  as  the  head  of  the  great  European  common-wealth.  This  point  however 
is  best  decided  by  a  professed  writer  upon  Heraldry.  In  his  chapter  upon  the  precc 
dency  of  kings  and  commonivealths.  Sir  George  Mackenzie  has  the  following  observations. 
"  Amongst  those  who  are  supreme,  kings  have  the  preference  from  commonivejlihs  ; 
and,  amongst  tings,  the  Emperor  is  allowed  the  first  place  bv  the  famous  ceremonial  of 
Rome,  as  succeeding  to  the  Roman  Emperors — And  therefore  the  German  and  Italian 
lawyers,  who  are  subject  to  the  Empire,  have  with  much  flattery  asserted,  that  the 
Emperor  is  the  Vicar  of  God  in  temporals"  (manifestly  in  contradistinction  to  the  Pope, 
who  claimed  and  was  allowed  to  be  the  Vicar  of  Christ  in  spirituals)  "  and  that  juris- 
dictions are  derived  from  him,  as  from  the  fountain,  calling  him  (/(/ot/'««ot  et  caput  totius 
orbis."  (Mackenzie's  Observations  on  Precedency,  chap.  1.)  This  last  matter  Sir 
George  naturally  enough  refuses  to  allow,  though  he  readily  concedes  a  precedency 
of  rank  to  the  Emperor.  His  whole  treatise  may  be  found  in  Guillim's  Display  of 
Heraldry.     See  also  Mod.  Univ.  Hist.  Vol.  xlii.  p.  SO — 105. 

f  It  is  not  unworthy  of  notice,  that  Cardinal  Baronius  speaks  of  the  coronation  of 
Charlemagne  in  language,  which  strongly  though  undesignedly  marks  the  rise  of  a 
ne'Li:  head  of  the  Roman  beast.  "  Ouod  autem  ejusmodi  translatio  imperii  ab  Oriente  in 
Occidentem,  ubi  posthac  semper  stetit  et  hactenus  perseverat,  divino  consilio  facta 
fuerit  magno  reipublicx  Christians  emolumcnto,  et  imperii  Orientalis  desolatio,  et 
alia  eventa,  satis  superque  demonstrarunt.  Nee  vero  id  potuisse  convenientius  fieri 
quam  per  Romanum  Pontificem  totius  Christiance  religionis  antistitem,  et  summum 
EcclesijB  catholicae  visibile  caput,  pastoremque  universi  gregis  Christian!  ;  nee  dccen- 
tius  quam  in  Carolum  magnum,  regem  totius  Occidentis  potentissimum,  eumdemque 
Christianissimum,  piissimum,  justissimum,  fortissinium,  doctissimum,  de  religione 
Christiana,  ecclesia  catholica,  scde  apostolica,  statu  publico,  semper  in  omnibus  opti- 
me  meritum  ;  nee  denique  opportuniori  tempore,  quam  cum  jacerent  absque  posses* 
sore  jura  Orientalis  Imperii,  ct  periculum  inimineret  ne  caderent  in  schismaticos 
principcs  a  fide  catholica  extorres,  aut  in  Christiana:  religionis  infestissimos  hostes 
Saraccnos,  nem.o  prudens  et  rerum  tequus  sstimator  non  afiirmabit,  nee  inficias  ire 
poterit,  totum  id  Dei  opus  fuisse,  ejusque  mirabili  consilio  sapieutissime  dispositum." 
Annal.  Eccles.  A.  D.  800, 


116 

four  pilgrimages  or  visits  to  the  Vatican,  he  embraced 
the  Popes  in  the  communion  of  friendship  and  piety  ; 
knelt  before  the  tomb,  and  consequently  before  the  im- 
age, of  the  Apostle;  and  joined,  without  scruple  in  all 
the  prayers  and  processions  of  the  Roman  liturgy.  Would 
prudence  or  gratitude  -allow  ike  pontiffs  to  renounce  their 
benefactor  l  Had  they  a  right  to  alienate  his  gift  o{  the 
exarchate  !  Had  they  a  power  to  abolish  his  government 
of  Rome  I  The  title  of  Patrician  was  below  the  merit 
and  greatness  of  Charlemagne  ;  and  it  was  only  by  re- 
viving the  Western  empire^  that  they  could  pay  their  ob- 
ligations or  secure  their  establishment.  By  this  decisive 
measure  they  would  finally  eradicate  the  claims  of  the 
Greeks  :  from  the  debasement  of  a  provincial  town  the 
majesty  of  Rome  would  be  restored  :  the  Latin  Christ- 
ians would  be  united  under  a  supreme  head  in  their 
ancient  metropolis:*  and  the  conquerors  of  the  West 
would  receive  their  crown  from  the  successors  of  St.  Pe- 
ter. The  Roman  church  would  acquire  a  zealous  and 
respectable  advocate  ;  and,  under  the  shadow  of  the  Car- 
lovingian  power,  the  bishop  might  exercise,  with  honour 
and  safety,  the  government  of  the  city.f 

To  this  interpretation  of  the  prophecy  respecting  the 
septimo-octave  head  of  the  beast ^  it  is  possible,  that  three 
objections  may  be  urged — First,  that  it  does  not  accord 
with  my  own  plan  of  exposition  to  suppose,  that  a  king 
of  France  should  be  a  head  of  the  beast,  because  France 
is  one  of  the  ten  horns  :  consequently,  in  making  the  pa- 
iricio-imperial  dignify  of  Charlemagne  to  be  the  last  head^ 

*  Though  Charlemagne  in  a  great  measure  united  the  Latin  Christians  under  one 
head,  by  reigning  at  the  same  time  in  France, part  of  Spain,  Italy,  Germany,  and  Hungary, 
yet  he  never  made  Rome  his  metropolis  ;  nor  can  I  think  with  Mr.  Gibbon  that  the 
I'opes  ever  wished  him  to  do  it.  Those  subtle  politicians  weie  too  well  aware,  that 
the  immediate  presence  oi  a  sovereign  prince  would  grievously  impede  their  schemey 
of  aggrandisement,  ever  to  desire  that  Rome  should  behold  any  other  masters  than 
themselves.  With  the  title  of  Emperor  of  the  Romans  they  were  perfectly  satisfied,  so 
long  as  the  Emperor  remained  at  a  respectful  distance  from  the  seven-hilled  city. 

f  Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  ix.  p.  170,  171.  Charlemagne's  devotion  to /^fes 
Papacy  appears  from  this  passage  in  his  laws.  "  In  memoriam  beati  Petri  apostoli, 
honoremus  sanctam  Romanam  et  apostolicam  sedem  ;  ut  quas  nobis  sacerdotahs  ma- 
ter est  dignitatis,  esse  debcat  ecclesiastica  magistra  rationis.  Quare  servanda  est 
cum  mansuetudine  humilitas  ;  ut,  licet  vix  ferendum  ab  ilia  sancta  sede  imponatur 
jugum,  tamen  feramus,  et  pia  devotione  toleremus."  A  sentence  sa)''s  Baronius,  wor- 
thy of  being  inscribed  in  letters  of  gold  !     Eccles.  Annal.  A.  D.  801 . 


117 

I  make  that  prince  at  once  both  a  head  and  a  horn,  the 
very  error  with  which  I  charge  Bp.  Newton  in  tlie  case 
Qi  the  Exchnrte — Secomllif,  that,  while  I  am  unwilling  to 
allow  the  Pope  to  be  the  last  head  on  the  ground  of  his 
temporal  supremacy  never  having  been  acknowledged 
by  the  sovereigns  of  the  Roman  empire,  I  find  no  diffi- 
culty in  supposing  the  Emperor  to  be  this  last  head^  not- 
withstanding his  temporal  supremacy,  except  so  far  as 
conceding  to  him  a  mere  empty  precedence,  is  as  little 
allowed  by  any  of  the  great  powers  as  that  of  the  Pope 
himself — Third  I  ij,  that  the  imperial  digiiity  of  Charle- 
magne and  his  successors  even  to  the  present  day,  is  noth- 
ing more  than  a  continuation  of  the  sixth  head ;  and  there- 
fore that  it  cannot  be  esteemed  a  nen-  and  distinct  head — 
These  three  objections  shall  be  answered  in  their  order. 
1.  It  is  undoubtedly  true,  that  1  denied  the  possibility 
of  the  Exarchate  being  typified  both  by  a  head  and  a 
horn  of  the  same  beast :  but  I  denied  it  on  this  account, 
and  I  see  no  reason  to  retract  my  opinion  :  in  the  case 
of  that  government,  the  same  power  is  represented  by 
Bp.  Newton,  as  being,  in  the  self-same  capacitij,  both  a 
head  and  a  horn  of  the  Roman  beast,  which  is  a  manifest 
unnecessary  repetition  :  whereas  Charlemagne  was  not 
both  a  head  and  a  horn,  in  the  same  capacity  ;  but,  like 
all  his  successors,  in  tico  entirelij  different  capacities.  As 
king  of  France,  he  was  a  horn  of  the  beast  ;  as  emperor 
of  the  Romans,  he  was  its  last  head.*  It  is  evident  in- 
deed, that,  since  the  septimo-octave  head  was  to  spring 
up  when  the  empire  was  in  a  divided  state,  there  would 
be,  as  it  were,  no  room  for  it  among  the  fen  horns,  unless 
it  were,  although  a  distinct  thing  itself,  in  some  manner 
attached  to  one  of  them.  Accordingly  the  Carlovingian 
imperial  dignitij,  although  generally  attached  to  one  of 
the  ten  horns,  is  yet  so  perfectly  distinct  from  them  all, 
that  the  French  successors  of  Charlemagne  continued  to 

*  The  Pope  might  undoubtedly  have  been  a  horn  cf  the  beast  in  his  ec:lesii2stical 
capacity ,  and  a  head  in  his  temporal,  if  he  had  ever  been,  what  Bp.  Newton  styles  him, 
c  ting  cf  kings  as  well  .15  a  bishop  cf  bishops  :  but  this,  as  I  have  already  shewn  from 
llstory,  he  never  was ;  and  yet  this  is  the  only  way,  in  which  it  is  possible  for  him 
t«  be  the  last  head  as  well  as  the  little  born.  Mr.  Mede's  language  is  very  inaccurate. 
jBe  represents  the  little  horn  as  being  absolutely  the  same  as  the  lust  htad — "  the  Anti- 
christian  horn  ivith  eyes  and  mouth  ;  that  is,  qui,  cum  rexera.  cornu  tantum  sit,  pro  capite 
tSBnen  sese  gerit,  cujus  est  proprium  os  et  oculos  habere."     Works  B.  iv.  JEpis.  24. 


118 

be  kings  of  France  when  they  ceased  to  be  Emperors  of 
the  Romans ;  and  the  imperial dignitij  itself  was  afterwards 
sometimes  borne  by  one  family,  and  sometimes  by  an- 
other, each  however,  so  long  as  it  enjoyed  it,  claiming 
and  being  allowed  precedence.*  Hence  it  appears,  that 
I  am  guilty  of  no  inconsistency  in  supposing,  that  Char- 
lemagne, in  his  t'j:o  different  capacities  of  king  of  France 
and  Emperor  of  the  Romans^  may  be  considered  as  being 
at  once  both  a  hum  and  a  head  of  the  beast. 

2.  The  second  objection.,  that  the  Emperor  can  no  more 
he  esteemed  the  last  head  of  the  secular  beast  than  the 
Pope.,  because  his  temporal  supreniacif  is  no  more  allowed 
than  that  of  the  Pope.,  will  speedily  vanish,  if  we  consider 
the  nature  of  symbolical  prophecy,  and  the  history  of  the 
first  rise  of  tlie  Carlozingian  empire.  Now  it  is  manifest, 
that  in  a  prophecy  symbolically  delivered  the  symbols 
themselves  cannot  be  represented  as  perpetually  varying 
with  the  ever-varying  revolutions  of  nations.  The  great 
outlines  of  facts,  whether  past,  present,  or  future,  must 
alone  be  attended  to:  and  the  different  members  of  a 
symbolical  beast  must  unavoidably  be  exhibited  as  sta- 
tionary and  permanent,  when  in  reality  they  are  by  no 
means  so.  St.  John  himself  gives  us  a  clue  to  the  right 
interpretation  of  his  own  prophecy.  "  Five  of  the  heads," 
says  he,  "  are  fallen,  and  one  is,  and  the  other  is  not 
yet  come  :"  nevertheless  the  beast  still  appears  vi'ith  all 
his  seven  heads.,  notwithstanding,  when  he  arose  out  of 
the  sea  of  Gothic  invasion^  Jive  of  them  were  no  longer 

'  TL'  imperial  tith  lately  assumed  by  General  Buonaparte,  even  supposing  it  to  be 
something  different  from  the  regal  tith,  no  more  affects  the  present  scheme  of  inter.- 
pretation,  tlian  the  division  of  the  Old  Roman  empire  into  its  eastern  and  tuesfern  branches 
does  the  universally  acknowledged  opinion  that  the  sixth  head  is  the  ancient  imperial 
fiignity.  The  present  title  however  of  that  usurper  is  manifestly  no  more  than  that 
of  ling.  Whatever  he  may  please  to  stvle  himself,  France  is  still  only  one  of  the  ten 
torn:  of  the  beast.  But  should  he  at  some  future  period  be  allowed  by  Providence 
to  tread  in  the  steps  of  Charlemagne,  to  subvert  the  imperial  honours  of  Germany, 
and  to  re-annex  to  France  the  title  and  authority  of  Emperor  of  the  Romans  :  in  that 
case  he  would  doubtless  become  the  septimo-bctai>e  head  ;  in  that  case  the  imperial  dignity 
would  only  revert  to  France,  as  it  was  before  transferred  from  France  to  Germany  .« 
it  would  still  be  the  same  last  head  of  the  beast.  How  far  such  an  event  is  probablei 
the  reader  must  judge  for  himself,  when  more  is  said  hereafter  upon  the  subject  of 
yet  unfulfilled  prophecies. 

tsince  this  was  written,  the  usurper  has  been  permitted  to  tread  in  the  steps  of 
Charlemagne,  and  to  erect  again  the  empire  of  the  IVe.t.  His  government  is  ncJV" 
plainly  the  representative  of /tv  Carlovingian  bead  of  the  beast.     June  1,  1806. 


119 

in  existence,  and  ofie  of  them  was  as  yet  future.  In  a 
similar  manner  the  sixth  heucL  which  at  its  first  rise  reiffn- 
eel  paramount,  like  each  of  its  five  predecessors,  over  the 
whole  beast,  is  still,  no  less  than  when  it  first  arose,  con- 
sidered as  the  sixth  head,  even  when  its  empire  was  over- 
run by  the  barbarians  of  the  North  and  the  Saracens  of 
the  South,  when  its  fairest  provinces  were  rent  away  from 
it,  and  when  many  independent  kingdoms  were  erected 
which  acknowledged  not  its  supremacy.  If  then  the 
sixth  head  be  esteemed  a  head,  from  its  Jirst  rise  to  its 
Jinal  dissolution,  when  cooped  up  by  the  Turks  within 
the  narrow  limits  of  a  single  city  ;  we  must  evidently 
adopt  the  same  mode  of  considering  the  last  head  :  that 
is  to  say,  it  will  matter  little,  so  far  as  the  completion  of 
the  prophecy  is  concerned,  whether  the  temporal  supre- 
macy of  the  present  representative  of ///e  last  head  be  ac- 
knowledged or  not,  provided  only  it  was  once  acknowl- 
edged. We  have  merely  therefore  to  inquire,  whether 
this  was  ever  the  case  with  the  Carlovingian  monarchij  ; 
for  such  acknowledgment  seems  necessary,  in  the  mind 
of  the  prophet,  to  complete  the  character  of«  head  of  the 
least.  He  is  silent  respecting  the  first  six  heads,  because 
they  all  arose  before  the  empire  was  broken,  and  there- 
fore it  was  unnecessary  to  specify  that  thetj  were  severally 
the  whole  h^ast :  but  he  particularly  informs  us,  that  the 
last  should  likewise  be  the  ichole  beast,  because  such  a 
circumstance,  however  essential  to  the  character  of  a 
head,  seemed  very  improbable  after  the  empire  had  been 
divided  into  ten  horns.^'  This  however  precisely  came 
to  pass.  Allowing  for  the  space  occupied  by  the  i/et  ex- 
isting sixth  head,  the  last  head  at  its  first  rise  was  com- 
mensurate, either  by  actual  sovereignty  or  acknowledged 
supremacy,  with  the  rohole  beast.  Charlemagne  reallif 
possessed  what  the  Popes  only  ineffectuallij  claimed.  The 
greatest  part  oi  the  Western  empire  vv-as  immediately  sub- 
ject to  him  :  he  possessed  ample  territories  without  its 
limits  :  and  the  petty  kings  of  Britain  and  Spain,  the  only 
provinces  not  directly  under  his  control,  implored  the 
honour  and  support  of  his  alliance,  and  styled  him  their 

*  "  The  beast,  that  was,  and  is  not,  even  he  ij  the  eightli  (king  or  head),  and  i^ 
of  the  seven." 


commoji  parent^  the  sole  and  supreme  Emperor  of  the 
West*  The  result  therefore  of  the  whole  is  this.  If 
the  successors  of  Augustus  are  still  considered  as  the  sixth 
head  of  the  beast  ^  even  when  they  no  longer  possessed 
the  temporal  supremacy  of  Augustus  ;  no  reason  can  be 
shewn,  why  the  successors  of'  Charlemagne  should  not 
still  be  considered  as  the  last  head  of  the  beast,  although 
they  now  no  longer  possess  the  temporal  supremacy,-]: 
of  Charlemagne. :{: 

3.  With  regard  to  the  identity  of  the  ancient  Augustan 
imperial  digniti/  and  the  modern  Carlovingian  imperial 
dignitif,  it  exists  but  in  imagination.  The  two  resemble 
each  other  merely  in  name  :  in  all  other  respects  there  is 
so  great  a  difference  between  them,  that  they  cannot 
with  any  propriety  be  considered  as  forming  only  one 
head.     They  differ  in  these  respects. 

*  The  readfir  will  find  a  statement  of  the  extent  of  the  Carlovingian  empire,  in 
the  Hist,  of  the  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  ix.  p.  180 — 187  ;  which  affords  the  best  com- 
ment upon  the  prophetic  declaration  that  the  last  head  should  be  the  ivhole  beast. 
Respecting  Charlemagne  and  his  empire  Mr.  Gibbon  justly  remarks,  that  "  the 
dignity  of  his  person,  the  length  of  his  reign,  the  prosperity  of  his  arms,  the  vigour 
of  his  government,  and  the  reveience  of  distant  nations,  distinguish  him  from  the 
royal  croud  ;  and  Europe  dates  a  new  era  from  the  restoration  of  the  Western  em- 
pire." The  very  pagans  indeed,  as  Cardinal  Baronius  observes,  mourned  for  Char- 
lemagne as  the  father  of  the  world  :  "  ipsos  paganos  eum  planxisse  quasi  patrera 
orbis."     Annal.  Eccles.  A.  D.  814. 

f  Since  this  was  written,  the  Carlcvingian  emperorship  of  the  West  has  been  transferred 
to  France,  and  the  real  temporal  supremaiy  of  Charlemagne  has  been  revived.  June  1 , 
1806. 

I  The  relics  of  that  temporal  supremacy,  which  constituted  the  Carlovingian 
line  of  emperors  the  last  head  of  the  beast,  may  be  clearly  traced  in  the  famous  Golden 
bull  enacted  under  the  Emperor  Charles  i v.  in  the  year  1.356.  In  this  bull  each  of 
the  Electors  is  required  to  swear,  that  to  the  best  of  his  discernment  he  will  choose 
"  a  temporal  thief  for  the  Christian  people"  who  may  be  worthy  of  that  station  :  and  it 
is  afterwards  ordered,  that  none  of  them  shall  quit  the  city  of  Frankfort,  "  until 
they  shall  have,  by  a  plurality  of  voices,  elected  and  given  to  the  ivorld,  or  to  the 
Christian  people  a  temporal  chief,  namely  a  king  of  the  Romans,  future  Emperor." 
With  the  same  now  empty  affectation  of  the  Carlovingian  supremacy,  the  Archbish- 
op of  Cologne  is  styled  Arch-chancellor  of  the  Holy  Empire  in  Italy  ;  the  Archbishop 
of  Triers,  Arch-chancellor  of  the  Hol\  Empire  in  France  and  Aries  ;  and  tlie  Archbishop 
of  Mentz,  Arch-chancellor  of  the  Holy  Empire  in  Germany.  The  whole  of  the  Golden 
bull  may  be  seen  in  Mod.  Univ.  Hist.  Vol.  xxx.  Bp.  Newton  indeed  does  not  deny, 
that  the  Carloi'ingian  Emperonhip  is  a  head  of  the  beast  ;  only  he  supposes  it  to  be  a 
continuation  of  the  sixth  ZifiJi/,  instead  of  its  being  the  distinct  double  last  head.  Such  a 
scheme  however  appears  to  me  extremely  unnatural.  When  the  sixth  head  was  con- 
tinued from  the  days  of  Constantine  in  the  persons  of  the  Constanlinopolitan  Einperors, 
and  consequently  when  it  was  actually  in  existence  at  the  time  of  the  rise  of  the 
Carlovingian  Emperorship,  it  seems  very  far  fetched  to  say,  that  it  was  continued  in 
the  line  of  the  Carloi'ingian  Emperors,  the  very  first  of  whom  did  not  flourish  till 
upwards  of  three  centuries  after  the  downfall  of  the  old  ivatcrn  empire  under  Augu«- 
tijlus. 


121 

The  Augustan  EmperGrship  was  a  single  head,  imme^ 
diately  succeeding  t/ie  J/'ve  which  had  fallen,  and  seated 
during  the  latter  part  of  its  existence  at  Constantinople 
contemporaneously  vvith  t/ie  last  heud.^  The  Car/ovin- 
gian  Emperorship  is  a  double  head,  consisting  of  the  Pa- 
triciate merging  into  the  feudal  imperial  dignitif,  whence 
I  have  styled  it  the  septimo-octaie  head — The  Augustan 
Emperorship  was  composed  of  a  line  of  real  Roman 
princes,^  who  administered  the  very  Empire  that  was 
erected  by  the  valour  o^  the  f~ce  Jirst  heads.  The  Car- 
lovingiun  Emperorship  was  composed  of  a  line  of  Gothic 
princes,  who  had  invaded  and  occupied  the  territories  of 
the  sixth  head — T/ie  Augustan  Emperorship  was  some- 
times hereditary,  and  sometimes  conferred  by  the  mili- 
tary violence  of  the  Pretorian  guards.  The  Carlovingian 
Emperorship  has  sometimes  indeed  been  hereditary,  but 
has  for  the  most  part  been  elective,  the  right  of  election 
being  vested  in  a  certain  number  of  princes — The  Augus- 
tan Emperorship  was  always  attached  to  territorial  pos- 
sessions, insomuch  that,  if  the  reigning  Emperor  had  not 
been  Emperor,  he  would  have  been  no  more  than  a  pri- 
vate man.  The  Carlovingian  Emperorship  was  never 
attached  to  territorial  possessions,  as  such ;  the  prince, 
who  enjoyed  that  dignity,  sometimes  being  of  one  family 
and  sometimes  of  another,  holding  his  proper  dominions 
by  a  quite  distinct  tenure  from  his  Emperorship,  being  at 
once  an  hereditary  sovereign  and  an  elective  Emperor,  and 
rarely  since  the  days  of  Charlemagne  possessing  a  single 
foot  of  ground  in  his  imperial  capacity.^  Accordingly  the 
dignity  o^  the  Carlovingian  Emperorship  has  been  borne 
alternately  by  a  King  of  France,  a  Duke  of  Franconia, 
a  Duke  of  Suabia,  a  Duke  of  Bavaria,  a  King  of  Bohemia, 
a  King  of  Naples,  and  a  King  of  Spain  ;§   whose  heredi- 

*  It  is  worthy  of  notice,  tltat  St.  John  gives  no  intimation,  that  the  sixth  head 
should  fall  previous  to  the  rise  of  the  septhno-octa'ue  head,  though  he  states  so  particu- 
larly that  the  f'Vi'jirst  heads  had  fallen  previous  to  the  rise  of  the  sixth  head. 

f  When  I  say  real  Roman  princes,  I  only  mean  princes  born  in  regions  that  ac- 
knowledged the  sovereignty  of  the  Augustan  Emperors,  not  princes  literally  born  at 
Rome  or  in  Italy.  \-  . 

I  Charlemagne's  sovereignty  of  Italy  gradually  melted  away  into  the  imperial  fiefs. 

§  I  pretend  not  accurately  to  state  all  the  variations  of  descent  in  the  Carlovin- 
gian imperial  dignity  :  I  merely  observe,  in  general  terms,  that  it  has  been  attached 
at  different  times  to  all  these  difFerent  families. 

VOL.  II.  10 


tary  territories  were  entirely  independent  of  their  imperial 
rank — Finally,  (/le  Augttstan  Emperorship  consisted  of 
a  line  of  military  despots^  ruling,  like  the  Turkish  mun- 
archs,  over  a  nation  of  slaves.  The  Carlovin^ion  Empe- 
rorship has  ever  consitiited  its  possessor  the  tliief  of  a 
Gothic  feudal  coiifederacif.  When  this  last  paincuiar  is 
fully  considered,  we  shall  scarcely  find  any  two  lines  of 
princes  more  dissimilar  than  the  Augustan  and  theCarlo- 
vingian  Emperors.  Ihe  principles  of  feudalism,  brought 
by  the  northern  tribes  out  of  their  native  forests,*  and 
carried  to  perfection  in  France,  Germany,  and  Italy,  draw 
an  indelible  line  of  difference  between  the  sixth  and  the 
last  head  of  the  beast :  and  we  must  possess  the  power 
of  imagination  in  a  very  high  degree  to  suppose,  that 
Charlemagne.,  surrounded  by  his  Gothic  military  vassals, 
the  Paladins,  Dukes,  and  Counts  of  his  Empire,  or  that 
the  modern  Emperors  of  the  Romans.,  the  feudal  superiors 
of  a  long  train  of  Electors,  Princes,  Margraves,  and  Land- 
graves, form  a  continuation  oi  the  Augustan  Emperors 
of  Rome  and  Constantinople.,  merely  because  they  also 
have  borne  the  title  of  Emperors. ■^  So  far  indeed  is  the 
sovereign  of  the  Gothic  Roman  Empire.,  from  constituting 
jointly  with  the  sovereign  of  the  Const antinopolit an  Em- 
pire only  one  sixth  head  of  the  beast,  as  Bp.  Newton  sup- 
poses, that  the  Greeks  very  unwillingly  allowed  even  to 
Charlemagne  the  title  of  Emperor,  and  absolutely  refused 

*  Tiie  rudiments  of  feudalism  may  be  clearly  discovered  in  the  account  which 
Tacitus  gives  of  the  ancient  Germans.  In  their  yet  iniant  state  of  society,  their 
princes,  instead  of  granting  to  their  counts  or  feudal  vassals  manors  and  estates 
!-ubject  to  military  service,  presented  them  with  horses  and  lances,  and  gained  their 
atlection  by  rude  though  plentiful  entertainments.     See  Tac.  de  Mor.  Ger.  C.  13, 14. 

J  The  Italian  Romances  are  curious  and  even  valuable,  as  depicting  with  con- 
siderable accuracy,  from  the  legends  of  the  ancient  troubadours,  the  state  of  Gothic 
manners  in  the  Carlovingian  age.  Whoever  has  read  the  poems  of  Eoyardo  and 
Aric?to  will  find  it  no  easy  matter  to  discover  any  resemblance  between  the  court 
of  the  v.ariike  sovereign  of  Orlando,  Rinaldo,  and  Ruggiero,  and  that  of  the  Roman 
Cesars ;  and  history  v.'ill  teach  him,  that  there  is  just  as  little  resemblance  between 
their  respective  principles  of  government.  Mr.  Gibbon  very  truly  observes,  that 
"  the  victorious  nations  of  Germany  established  a  neiu  systim  of  manners  and  govern' 
mcnt  in  the  western  countries  of  Europe."     Hist,  of  Decline,  Vol.  vi.  p.  404. 

The  sceptre  of  Charlemagne  has  recently  been  transferred  from  Germany  to 
France.  Still  however  is  the  mxv  empire  of  tie  West  constructed  on  those  very  prin- 
ciples of  feudalism,  which  characterized  the  original  empire  of  Charlemagne.  Aji  as- 
semblage of  newly-created  kings  professedly  hold  their  crowns  as  vassals  of  their 
superior  !ojd  Buonaparte,  who  scruples  not  to  style  their  ^QXvi\taa\M  federal pn-vinui 
of  his  empire.      June  1,1806. 


U3 

to  bestow  it  upon  his  successors.  They  could  not  bring 
themselves  to  consider  a  barbarian  of  the  North  in  the 
light  o(  an  Emperor  of  the  Romans ;  and  they  were  un- 
willing to  concede  that  dignity  to  a  khiir  of  the  Franks, 
which  they  had  never  refused  to  the  shurt-lived  genuine 
line  oj^  Western  Emperors^  the  real  successors  o^  Augus- 
tus.* Under  Charlemagne  in  short,  Rome  became  sub- 
ject to  a  new  heac/:\  for  a  form  of  government  was  then 
instituted,  differing  radically  and  essentially  from  every 
one  o'i  the  previous  six  forms.,  represented  by  the  six  first 
heads  of  the  beast. 

By  way  of  recapitulation  of  what  has  been  said,  I  will 

*  The  imperial  dignity  of  Charlemagiie  was  announced  tO\"  the  East  by  the  altera- 
tion of  his  style;  and,  instead  of  saluting  his /ufLcrs,  the  deck  Emperors, he  presumed 
to  adopt  the  more  equal  and  familiar  appellation  oi  brother — A  treaty  of  peace  and 
alliance  was  concluded  between  the  two  empires ;  and  the  limits  of  the  East  and 
West  were  defined  by  the  right  of  present  possession.  But  the  Greeks  soon  forgot 
this  humiliating  equality,  or  remembered  it  only  to  hate  the  Barbarians  by  whom  it 
was  extorted  :  During  the  short  union  of  virtue  and  power,  they  respectfully  salut- 
ed the  august  Charlemagne,  with  the  acclamations  of  basileus,  and  Emperor  of  tbf 
Romans.  As  soon  as  these  qualities  were  separated  in  the  person  of  his  pious  son, 
the  Byzantine  letters  inscribed,  To  the  king,  or,  as  he  styles  himself,  the  Emperor  of  the 
Franks  and  Lombards.  M'^hen  both  power  and  virtue  were  extinct,  they  despoiled  Louis 
the  second  of  his  hereditary  title ;  and,  with  the  barbarous  appellation  of  JRex  or 
Rega,  degraded  him  among  the  crowd  of  Latin  princes — The  same  controversy  was 
revived  in  the  reign  of  the  Othos  ;  and  their  ambassador  describes,  in  lively  colours, 
the  insolence  of  the  Byzantine  court.  The  Greeks  affected  to  despise  the  poverty 
and  ignorance  of  the  Franks  and  Saxons  ;  and,  in  their  last  decline,  they  refused  to 
prostitute  to  the  kings  of  Germany  the  title  of  Roman  Emperors."  Hist,  of  Decline,  Vol. 
ix.  p.  191 — i95. 

f  Many  commentators,  though  they  may  not  quite  positively  declare  as  much, 
seem  to  be  impressed  with  a  sort  of  idea,  that  an  actual  residence  at  Rome  is  a  necessary 
characteristic  of  a  head  of  the  Roman  beast.  Hence  we  are  sometimes  asked.  What 
other  power,  except  the  Papacy,  can  possibly  be  the  last  head  of  the  beast,  inasmuch  as 
Rome  since  the  days  of  the  Ccsars  has  been  the  seat  of  no  other  power  ?  Mere  resi- 
dence at  Rome  however  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  character  of  a  head  of  the  beast ; 
though  it  seems  essential  to  sucli  a  character  to  have  enjoyed,  at  some  period  or 
other  of  its  existence,  the  so'vereignty  of  Rome.  When  Constantine  removed  the  seat 
of  government,  he  did  not  surely  on  that  account  cease  to  be  the  representative  of 
the  sixth  head ;  any  more  than  the  king  of  Scotland  ceased  to  be  the  head  of  Scotland 
by  removing  the  seat  of  government  to  London,  or  the  Emperor  of  Russia  to  be  the 
head  of  Russia  by  transferring  his  residence  from  Moscow  to  Petersburgh.  Indeed 
those,  who  are  the  foremost  in  urging  the  residence  of  the  Pope  in  Rome,  as  an  argu- 
ment of  his  being  the  last  head,  scruple  not  to  declare  that  either  the  line  of  the  demi-Ce- 
sars,  the  exarchs  of  Rai'enna,  or  the  Gothic  sovereigns  of  Italy,  constitute  the  short-lived  sev- 
enth head ;  although  none  of  these,  except  the  first,  ever  resided  in  Rome,  and  they 
only  for  about  eight  years,  Rome  was  as  much  subject  to  Charlemagne  who  resided 
at  Paris,  as  it  was  to  Constantine  who  resided  at  Constantinople.  The  only  differ- 
ence was  this  ;  that  Charlemagne  granted  Rome  to  the  Pope  to  be  held  as  a  fief  of  the 
empire,  under  himself  the  superior  lord,  agreeably  to  the  usages  of  feudalism.  In- 
deed the  whole  behaviour  of  Charlemagne  shews  plainly,  that  he  v/as  as  much  the 
real  sovereign  of  Rome  as  Buonaparte  is  at  prerent.     June  1,  ISO'S. 


venture  to  assert,  that  no  power  has  ever  arisen  within 
the  limits  of  /he  Roman  Empire  which  at  all  answers  to 
the  prophetic  character  of  t/ie  septimo-ociave  head,  ex- 
cept the  Carhi'iiigiuji  monarchij  alone.  Three  things 
concur  in  this  character:  the  last  head  of  the  beast  was 
to  be  at  once  both  the  seventh  and  the  eigh/h  head,  the 
seventh  continuing  only  a  short  time  and  then  being 
swallowed  up  in  the  eighth  ;  it  was  at  its  first  rise  to  be 
the  whole  beast ;  and  it  was  to  be  the  beast  that  zvas^  and 
is  not,  and  yet  /y,  that  is  to  say,  it  was  to  be  the  revived 
beast,  or  the  beast  while  in  his  papalUj-idolal rous  state. 

1.  Now  tJie  Carlovingian  monarchij  was  the  septimo- 
octave  head,  as  being  the  Fatriciate  merging  into  the  feu- 
dal Emperorship. 

2.  It  was  the  zchole  beast,  as  comprehending  the  lohole 
Western  empire  either  by  actual  sovereignty,  or  by  the 
homasfe  of  acknovvledo;ed  superiority. 

3.  And  it  was  the  beast  that  was,  and  is  not,  and  yet  is, 
as  comprehending  that  zchole  empire,  after  it  had  relapsed 
into  the  abominations  o^ papa!  tifrannij  and  idolatrij. 

Neither  the  Papacy,  nor  anif  other  pozver,  except  the 
Carlovingian  Patricio-Itnperial government,  \\]\\  be  found 
to  answer  to  this  prophetic  description  ;  whence  I  doubt 
not,  but  that  that  government  is  intended  by  the  last  head 
of  the  beast. 

Mr,  Mede  and  Bp.  Newton  think,  that  St.  John  beheld 
all  the  ten  horns  growing  together  upon  the  last  head. 
To  this  opinion  however  there  appear  to  be  insuperable 
objections,  whether  the  last  head  be  the  Papacij  or  the 
Gothic  Emperorship.  The  springing  up  of  horns  out  of 
a  head  necessarily  implies,  that  the  head  was  in  existence 
before  the  horns :  whereas  both  the  Papal  Empire  (as 
contradistinguished  from  the  primitive  Bishopric  of 
Rome  J,  and  the  Carlovingian  Emperorship,  arose  after 
the  horns  had  sprung  up  ;  namely,  the  one  in  the  year 
606,  and  the  other  in  the  years  "77^  and  800.*  Hence 
it  is  plain,  that  the  ten  horns  could  not  have  appeared  to 

*  Bp.  Newton  dates  the  commencement  oi  toe  1260  years  consiflerably  later  than 
the  yejr  606  :  heuce,  according  to  his  plan,  it  is  still  more  impossible,  that  the  ten 
horns  should  appear  to  St.  John  growing  upon  the  last  bead,  if  that  last  head  bp  the 
Papacy, 


125 

the  prr.pbet  as  growing  upon  the  last  head.  To  zvhich 
then  of  the  heads  are  we  to  assign  the  ten  horns  !  Most 
assuredly  to  the  sixth.  In  the  da)  s  of  St.  John  /^Vf  were 
fallen  :  and,  between  the  fall  o'i  those  five  and  the  rise  of 
the  last.,  the  ten  horns  sprung  up.  it  is  plain  therefore, 
that  they  can  only  have  sprung  up  out  o^ the  sixth.  Such 
accordingly  we  find  to  be  the  case.  TJie  Roman  Empire 
was  divided  into  ten  kingdoms  under  the  sixth  head  oj'  the 
beast,  previous  to  his  revival  under  the  same  xixth  head*^ 
and  previous  to  the  rise  of  his  last  head.  It  w-as  the  sixth 
head  therefore  that  branched  out  into  ten  horns :  conse- 
quently to  the  sixth  head  the  ten  hums  must  necessarily 
belong. 

111.  In  the  remaining  part  of  the  prophecy  respecting 
the  ten-horned  beast  we  are  informed,  agreeably  to  the 
preceding  prophecy  respecting  the  war  bevveen  the  dragon 
and  the  nwman,  that  it  was  the  dragon  which  gave  his 
power  and  his  seat  or  secular  authority  to  the  beast ;  and 
that  the  beast.,  as  his  agent,  should  persecute  the  saints 
42  months  or  1260  years.  Hence  it  appears,  that  the 
persecution  of  the  dragon  and  the  persecution  of  the  beast 
is  one  and  the  same  ;  and  that  they  are  both  exactly 
commensurate  with  iJie  reign  of  the  little  horn.  The 
drason  therefore,  as  I  have  already  observed,  we  must 
consider  as  tlie  main-spring  of  the  ichole  Apostacij ;  the 
ten-horned  beast  ^  as  his  secular  engine  of  persecution  ;  and 
the  two-tiorned  beast,  -as  the  spiritual  instrument  which  he 
used  to  stir  up  the  last  head  and  the  ten  horns  of  the  beast 
of  the  sea  against  the  mijstic  woman.  In  this  sense  then 
it  is,  that  the  zvhole  ten-horned  beast,  after  he  had  arisen 
from  the  sea,  "  opened  his  mouth  in  blasphemy  to  God, 
to  blaspheme  his  name,  and  his  tabernacle,  and  them  that 
dwell  in  heaven."  He  blasphemed  the  name  of  God  by 
sanctioning  all  the  blasphemous  absurdities  of  his  little 
horn,'\  that  predicted  man  of  sin  who  proudly  sat  in  the 
temple  of  God,   and   literally   shewed  himself  that  he  is 

*  "  I  saw  one  of  his  heads  as  it  were  wounded  to  death  ;  and  his  deadly  wound 
was  healed — the  beast,  which  had  the  wound  by  a  sword,  and  did  live."  Rev.  xiii. 
3,  14. 

f  "  Any  acts  of  idolatrous  worship,"  says  Mr.  Lowman, "  may  well  be  expressed  by 
hlaspheming  God  and  his  name,  as  they  deny  to  the  true  God  his  distinguishing  honour, 
acd  give  it  to  creatures,  whether  images,  samts,  or  angels."     Paraph,  in  loc. 


126 

God  by  receiving  the  adoration  of  his  cardinals  :*  hence 
it  is  said  by  Daniel,  that  the  beast  shoul*i  be  destroyed 
"  because  of  the  voice  of  the  great  words  which  the  horn 
spake."  And  he  blasphemed  the  niyslic  tabernacle  of 
God,  and  them  that  dwell  in  the  sijmboUcal  heaven,  by 
upholding  and  propagating  the  most  foul  and  injurious 
calumnies  against  the  zcitnesses,  accusing  them  of  all  the 
cnnies  which  pagan  Rome  had  formerly  laid  to  the  charge 
of  the  primitive  Christians, f 

^V^'e  are  moreover  informed,  that  all  the  world  worship- 
ped the  dragon  and  the  beast^  and  wondered  after  the 
beast.  Respecting  this  worship  we  are  afterwards  taught, 
that  it  was  the  second  beast  who  caused  it  to  be  paid  to 
the  first;  and  much  light  is  thrown  upon  its  nature  by 
a  phrase  which  more  than  once  occurs  in  the  Apocalypse  : 
me/n  are  said  to  zcorship  the  beast  and  his  image.  Now  it 
is  superfluous  to  observe,  that  the  Papists  never  literally 
worshipped  the  devil ;  and  equally  so  to  remark,  that 
they  never  literally  worshipped  the  ten-horned  beast^  or 
the  secular  Roman  empire :  yet  this  worship  is  immedi- 
ately connected  vv'ith  the  worship  o{  an  image,  which  the 
second  beast  caused  to  be  made  to,  or  for  the  use  of,  the 
^rst  beast.  Hence  I  apprehend,  that  t}\e  worship  oj' the 
dragon  and  the  beast  means  the  devotion  of  the  whole 
Jioman  loorld  to  the  apostate  principles  of  the  beast,  such 
as  his  idolatrous  -worship  of  images,  his  opposition  to  the 
truth,  and  his  persecution  of  the  zcitnesses.  They,  that 
dwelt  upon  the  earth,  worshipped  the  dragon,  by  lending 
themselves  as  tools  to  advance  the  infernal  domination  of 
the  prince  of  darkness  ;+  and  they  worshipped  the  beast 

*  See  Ep.  Newton's  Disfert.  on  tie  tna'i  of  sin. 

•f  Mrs.  Bowdler  ingeniously  suppose?,  that  tbe  blusjihsmy  here  spoken  of  means 
apcitucy.,  for  vvhicii  she  cites  Acts  xxvi.  1 1.  Taking  tiie  word  in  this  sense,  the  Lfast, 
■while  pagfan,  laboured  to  cause  the  primitive  Christians  to  hhspheme  or  apostatise ; 
bv  requiring-  them  to  abjure  their  faith  :  and,  when  afterwards  in  an  apostatkal  state 
himself,  (2  Thess.  ii.  3.  1  Tim.  iv.  1.)  he  was  equally  zealous  in  causing  the  ivUncssc^  to 
M/i-/"&^°'wi?, not  indeed  the  literal  name  of  Christ,  but  certainly  his  reliman  so  far  as  the 
spirit  of  it  is  concerned,  by  apostatising  to  Popery.  Mrs.  Bowdler  however,  who 
■wrote  in  the  year  1775,  supposes,  that  a  time  may  come  when  the  ancient  pagan 
hlasphemy  of  the  beast  will  be  revived,  and  when  men  will  be  required  to  abjure  the 
very  name  of  Christ.  Her  conjecture  has  certainly  been  accomplished  in  at  least  one 
t)f  the  principal  members  of  the  beast.     Practical  Observ.  on  the  Rev.  p.  35 — 46. 

1  "  Ye  are  of  your  father  the  devil,  and  tlie  lusts  of  your  father  yc  v.i.'l  do."  Johe 
TJii.  44. 


127 

by  adopting  the  idolatry  which  he  upheld  no  less  as  a 
Popish  than  as  a  pagan  empire.*  I  know  not  in  what 
manner,  except  this,  it  is  possible  for  an  empire  to  be 
worshipped. 

It  is  further  said,  that  power  was  given  to  the  ten-horn- 
ed beast  over  all  kindreds  and  tongues  and  nations  ;  in- 
somuch that  all  that  dwell  upon  the  earth  shall  worship 
him,  whose  names  are  not  written  in  the  book  of  life  of 
the  Lamb.  These  various  kindreds,  and  tongues,  and 
nations,  are  the  different  papal  states  of  the  Roman  enrih  ; 
over  all  of  which  the  beast  reigned,  either  through  his  last 
heacl^  or  through  his  ten  horns.  For  a  season,  they  all 
worshipped  the  beast^  adopting  his  apostate  principles, 
joining  in  his  adoration  of  images,  applauding  his  every 
persecution  of  the  Church,  and  heartily  concurring  with 
him  in  his  most  violent  measures  against  the  witnesses 
whose  names  are  written  in  the  book  of  life  :  and  even 
now,  after  the  Reformation,  only  one  of  the  ten  hornsf 
has  protested  against  his  tyranny,  and  resolutely  shelter- 
ed the  inijstic  -woman  and  the  remnant  of  her  seed  from  his 
implacable  rage.  J  The  others  either  still  adhere  to  their 
ancient  abominations,  or  have  embraced  the  yet  more 
blasphemous  tenets  oi  Antichrist.  Notwithstanding  their 
recent  severe  sufferings,  they  repent  not  of  the  works  of 
their  hands,  their  idolatry,  their  murders,  their  sorceries, 
their  spiritual  fornication,  their  thefts  ;  or  they  repent  of 
them,  only  to  blaspheme  the  name  of  the  God  of  heav- 
en, and  to  refuse  to  give  him  glory.  The  Roman  beast 
still  retains  all  the  characteristics  of  a  beast :  and  in  this 
state  he  will  at  length  go  into  perdition  on  account  of  the 
great  words  of  the  little  horn. 

*  "  Adoraneriint  bestiam,  \.  e.  subjecerunt  se  bestise  juxta  constitutionem  suam  reli- 
giosam."  (Pol.  Synop.  in  loc.)  The  passage  is  equivalent  to  that,  wherein  it  is  said, 
that  the  ten  horns  "  gave  their  power  and  strength  unto  the  beast."  (Rev.  xvii.  13.) 
The  li'Lole  Roman  ivorld,  under  all  its  ten  horns,  embraced  those  idolatrous  and  he- 
retical principles  which  gave  to  the  Empire  its  bestial  character ;  and  employed  its 
utmost  power  and  strength  to  uphold  them.  Respecting  the  worship  of  the  beast's 
image  more  wiU  be  said  hereafter  in  its  proper  place. 

f  1  use  the  phrase  here  in  a  general  and  indefinite  sense,  as  it  is  used  by  the  pro- 
phet himself.  (Rev.  xvii.  16.)  Of  the  ten  original  horns  France  alone  remained  at  the 
era  of  the  Revolution. 

\  Neither  Denmark,  Sweden,  nor  Prussia,  are  even  modern  horns  of  the  beast,  because 
they  never  were  comprehended  within  the  limits  of  tbs  old  Roman  Entire. 


128 

IV.  It  will  not  be  improper  at  the  end  of  this  long  dis- 
cussion to  give  in  one  point  of  view  the  scheme  of  inter- 
pretation which  I  have  adopted  in  preference  to  that  of 
Bp.  Newton.  Whatever  may  be  its  other  faults,  it  at 
least  preserves  all  the  members  of  the  seven- headed  and 
ten-horned  beast  perfectly  distinct. 

The  beast  then  is  tlic  secular  Roman  Empire — His 
seven  heads  (the  last  being  his  double  or  septimo-octave 
head)'A\Q  I.Kings;  2.  Consuls  ;  3.  Dictators;  4.  De- 
cemvirs ;  5.  Military  Tribunes;  6.  Augustan  Empe- 
rors ;  7,  B.  Carlovingian  Patricio-Emperors — His  ten 
primitive  horns  are  1.  The  kingdom  of  the  Huns  ;  2. 
The  kingdom  of  the  Ostrogoths  ;  5.  The  kingdom  of 
the  Visigoths;  4.  The  kingdom  of  the  Franks;  5.  The 
kingdom  of  the  Vandals  ;  6.  Ihe  kingdom  of  the  Sueves 
and  Alans  ;  '7 .  The  kingdom  of  the  Burgundians  ;  8. 
The  kingdom  of  the  Heruli,  Rugii,  Scyrri,  and  other 
tribes,  that  composed  the  Italian  kingdom  of  Odoacer  ; 
9.  The  kingdom  of  the  Saxons  ;  10.  The  kingdom  of 
the  Lombards — His  little  horn^  which  grew  up  among 
\v\'^  first  t.m  horns,  mid  which  was  ditFerent  from  thera  all, 
is  the  ecclesiastical  kingdom  of  the  Pope  ;  v\hich,  small 
as  it  originally  was,  afterwards  became  a  great  ecclesias- 
tical empire — His  three  primary  horns,  that  were  pluck- 
ed up  before  the  little  papal  horn,  are  1.  The  kingdom 
of  the  Heruli;  2.  Tlje  kingdom  of  the  Ostrogoths;  and 
3.  The  kingdom  of  the  Lombards. 

The  Apocalijptic  ten-horned  beast  is  not  represented, 
like  the  same  beast  in  the  book  of  Daniel,  with  a  little 
horn  :  because  St.  John  wished  to  describe  the  power 
symbolized  by  the  little  horn,  as  having  now,  at  the  re- 
vival of  llir  secular  beast,  become  a  great  spiritual  empire 
by  being  declared  supreme  head  of  t lie  universal  Church. 
Accordingly  the  tzfDO-horned  beast,  which  is  not  mention- 
ed by  Daniel,  occupies  the  place  of  the  little  horn,  which 
is  not  mentioned  by  St.  John.  This  fzco-horned  beast^ 
or  false  prophet,  is  the  same  as  i he  great  scarlet  whore^ 
who  rides  triumphant  upon  the  secular  beast :  that  is  to 
say,  they  both  equally  symbolize  the  adnUerous  tinan)tical 
church  of  Rome,  or  the  spiritual  catholic  empire  of  the 
Pope. 


129 

V.  The  prophecy  awfully  concludes  with  a  call  to  at- 
tend to  the  just  judgments  of  the  Lord.  "  If  any  man 
have  an  ear,  let  him  hear.  He,  that  leadeth  into  captiv- 
ity, shall  go  into  captivity  :  he,  that  killeth  with  the 
sword,  must  be  killed  with  the  sword.  Here  is  the  pa- 
tience and  the  faith  of  the  saints." 

Hitherto  we  have  beheld  the  secular  beasf  tm\mph?int, 
wearing  out  the  saints  at  the  instigation  of  his  little  horn 
by  leading  them  into  captivity  or  by  mercilessly  putting 
them  to  death  :*  we  are  now  summoned  to  attend  to  the 
just  retribution  of  a  righteous  God.  The  full  execution 
of  this  sentence,  long  since  pronounced  upon  the  beast^ 
is  as  yet  future :  for  it  will  not  take  place  till  the  last 
decisive  battle  of  Armageddon  after  the  termination  of 
the  \2^0  years.  Then,  we  are  taught  by  St.  John,  that 
the  beast  shall  go  into  perdition,  being  taken  along  with 
his  associate  the  false  prophet  and  cast  into  the  lake*  of 
fire  ;  and  by  Daniel,  that  the  beast  shall  be  slain,  and  his 
body  destroyed  and  given  to  the  burning  flame. 

This  1  apprehend  to  be  the  ultimate  meaning  of  the 
prophecy ;  nevertheless  it  seems,  in  some  measure,  to 
have  begun  already  to  receive  its  accomplishment.  They 
that  lead  into  captivity  ^  and  they  that  kill  with  the  sicord, 
is  so  general  and  comprehensive  an  expression,  that  it 
seems  necessarily  to  include,  not  only  the  secular  instru- 
ments of  papal  persecution,  but  likewise  the  ecclesiastical 
promoters  of  it :  accordingly  both  Daniel  and  St.  John 
connect  the  fate  of  the  beast  with  that  of  the  little  horn 
or  the  false  prophet.  We  have  beheld  then  in  France 
the  descendant  and  successor  of  those,  whose  memory 
has  been  rendered  infamous  by  the  diabolical  crusade 
against  the  protestants  of  Provence,  by  the  blood-stained 

*  Perpetual  conjinement ,  or  the  galleys,  was  the  fate  of  those  French  protestants  after 
the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantz,  who  escaped  the  Stroke  of  the  sword.  To  the  eter- 
nal disgrace  of  Louis  the  fourteenth,  many  of  the  female  protestants,  even  young  girls, 
were  transported  as  sla-ucs  to  the  West-India  colonies,  merely  because  they  refused  to 
wors'iip  idols,  and  invocate  dead  saints.  Would  that  protestant  England  was  as 
little  stained  with  the  atrocities  of  the  African  slave-trade  as  with  religious  perse- 
cution ! 

There  is  reason  to  hope  from  a  late  decision  of  the  British  parliament,  that  ere 
long  that  infamous  traffic  will  be  abolished.  Till  a  complete  end  be  put  to  it,  I  see 
not  how  we  can  expect  that  the  protection  of  a  God  of  justice  will  be  extended  to 
us.     June  21,  ISOG. 

VOL.  ir.  17 


130 

eve  of'  Si.  Bartholomew^  by  the  'perfidious  relocation  of 
the  edict  of  Na?itz,'\  himself /er/  into  captivity  and  slain 
xmth  the  sword.  We  have  beheld  numbers  of  his  papal 
clergy  crowded  together  into  gaols^  and  put  to  death.\  We 
have  beheld  the  sovereign  Pontiff,  that  man  of  sin  who 
had  led  so  many  thousands  captive,  himself  ^o  into  cap- 
tivity. The  voice  of  the  seven  last  thunders  hath  long 
been  sealed  :  but  now  it  hath  begun  to  shake  both  heav- 
en and  earth. 

We  are  not  however  to  imagine,  that  the  Inf  del  tyrant 
of  the  lait  days  is  allowed  to  prosper  for  his  own  sake. 
He  is  doubtless  a  mere  instrument  of  vengeance  in  the 
hand  of  God.  Like  his  precursor  and  type,  the  haughty 
sovereign  of  Assyria,  he  is  "  the  rod  of  the  Lord's 
anger,  sent  against  an  hypocritical  nation  and  against 
the  people  of  his  wrath,  to  take  the  spoil,  and  to  take 
the  prey,  and  to  tread  them  down  like  the  mire  of  the 
streets.  Howbeit  he  meaneth  not  so ;  but  it  is  in  his 
heart  to  destroy  and  to  cut  off  nations  not  a  few." 
Hence,  when  he  hath  "  performed  his  whole  work,"  as 
"  the  fruit  of  the  stout  heart  of  the  king  of  Assyria  and 
the  glory  of  his  high  looks"  were  punished,  so  "  shall 
he  come  to  his  end,  and  none  shall  help  him." 

*  "  The  French  ih.'g  glorieth  in  liis  letters  to  ihe  Pope,  that  he  had  slain  70,000  her- 
etics in  a  few  days."  Isaacson's  Chron.  cited  by  Sliarpe  in  An  inquiry  into  the  descrip- 
tion of  Babylon,  p.  33.     Bossuet  acknowledges  the  murder  of  only  30,000. 

■\  "  Louis  peremptorily  required  the  protestants  in  France  to  sign  a  declaration  of 
submission  and  strict  obedience  to  his  royal  orders  ;  and  that  they  should  promise 
to  attend  the  mass,  and  entirely  omit  their  own  religious  meetings  ;  for  otherwise 
they  should  forfeit,  not  only  their  lands  and  all  other  property,  but  also  their  personal- 
liberty  ;  the  men  being  doomed  to  slavery  in  the  king's  galleys  for  life,  and  the  wo- 
men to  be  shut  up  for  hfe  wherever  their  enemies  should  choose  to  immure  them." 
It  it  supposed,  that,  in  the  course  of  this  detestable  persecution,  about  a  million  of  pro- 
testants saved  their  lives  by  quitting  their  country,  and  that  at  least  100,000  were 
murdered.  (Sharpe's  Inquiry  into  the  description  of  Babylon,  p.  35 — 39.)  Among 
those,  who  fled  from  their  disgraced  country  at  that  dreadful  period,  was  a  pious 
ancestor  of  my  own. 

\  "  The  decree  was  passed  on  the  I5th  Jay  of  May  1792,  which  condemned  the 
non-juring  clergy  to  banishment.  About  the  time  of  the  federation  which  followed, 
many  of  the  clergy  were /"a^  <o  at.2/^  with  circumstances  more  or  less  sanguinary; 
great  numbers  also  were  crowded  togetlier  in  gaols,  and  other  places  of  confinemenU  ' 
Hist,  the  Interp.  Vol.  ii.  p.  2Z2. 


131 

SECTION  IV. 

Concerning  the  tii'o-liorned  beast  of  the  earth. 

To  complete  his  account  of  the  great  promoters  and 
upholders  oithe  Western  Apostacy^  it  now  only  remains, 
that  St.  John  should  describe  the  spiritual  power ^  by  the 
instigation,  of  which  the  temporal  ten-horned  beast  was 
to  persecute  the  zcitnesses  during  the  space  of  1260 
years.  Accordingly  he  concludes  the  third  chapter  of 
the  little  book  with  fully  developing  the  character  of  this 
tyrannical  empire  within  an  empire^  under  the  symbol  of 
a  second  beast  or  universal  empire,  co-existing  and  co- 
operating with  the  first  beast  or  universal  empire. 

"  And  I  beheld  another  beast  coming  up  out  of  the 
earth  ;  and  he  had  two  horns  like  a  lamb,  and  he  spake 
as  a  dragon.  And  he  exerciseth  all  the  power  of  the 
first  beast  before  him,  and  causeth  the  earth  and  them 
that  dwell  therein  to  worship  the  first  beast,  whose 
deadly  wound  was  healed.  And  he  doeth  great  wonders, 
in  order  that  he  may  make  fire  come  down  from  heaven 
on  the  earth  in  the  sight  of  men.*  And  he  deceiveth 
them  that  dwell  on  the  earth,  by  means  of  those  miracles 
which  he  had  power  to  do  in  the  sight  of  the  beast ;  say- 
ing to  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth,  that  they  should 
make  an  image  for  the  beast,  which  had  the  wound  by 
a  sword  and  did  live.      And  he  had  power  to  give  life 

*  Such  I  conceive  to  be  the  proper  translation  of  the  original.  This  bringing  dozun 
tffrefrom  heaven  upon  earth  was  not  itself  ■».  miracle;  but  wonders  were  wrought  by 
the  beast  in  order  that  he  might  possess  without  dispute  or  control  the  authority  thus 
symbolically  described.  In  our  present  version  it  appears  as  if  the  bringing  doivn  of 
fire  was  ///£■//' one  of  the  beast's  miracles:  whereas  the  particle  I'va  signifies /«  ojat/- 
that  not  so  that.  To  justify  the  common  version,  the  particle  ^li  ought  to  have  oc- 
cupied the  plate  of  jv.i:.  Thus,  after  the  Apostle  has  mentioned  the  different  gifts 
conferred  upon  the  Church,  he  adds  that  they  were  so  conferred,  "  in  order  that  we 
henceforth  should  be  no  more  children  "  Ivx  y.y/.-Ti  :.-f/.iv  vrtrtoi.  (Ephes.  iv.  14.)  Thus 
also  the  same  Apostle  exhorts  us  to  "  come  boldly  unto  the  tlirone  of  grace,  in  order 
that  we  may  obtain  mercy  :"  hx  Katk.;u!v  ea:ov.  (Heb.  iv.  16".)-  Thus  again,  on  the 
other  hand,  St.'  Mark  informs  us,  that  "  Jesus  yet  answered  nothing ;  so  that  Pilate 
marvelled  :"  arli  jxvy.cti^.uy  to-i  rriKxlov.  (A'lark  xv.  5.)  And  thus  St.  Paul  informs  the 
Corinthians,  that  God  comforted  him  both  by  the  coming  of  Titus,  and  by  their  fer- 
vent mind  toward  him,  "  so  that,"  says  he,  "  I  rejoiced  the  more  :"  o-'n  ,u.i  y-aKKov 
^cpmyi  (-2  Cor.  vii.  7.)  There  are  three  other  passages,  besides  this,  in  the  Apoca- 
lypse, where  ///  order  that  is  by  our  translators  "erroncouily  rendered  so  that  .■  Luke 
ivi.  26.  Rom.  i.  20.  and  Galat.  v.  17. 


139 

unto  the  image  of  the  beast,  that  the  image  of  the  beast 
should  both  speak,  and  cause  that  as  many  as  would  not 
worship  the  image  of  the  beast  should  be  killed.  And 
he  caused  all,  both  small  and  great,  rich  and  poor,  free 
and  bond,  to  receive  a  mark  in  their  right  hand,  or  in 
their  foreheads :  and  that  no  man  might  buy  or  sell, 
save  he  that  had  the  mark,  or  the  name  of  the  beast,  or 
the  number  of  his  name.  Here  is  wisdom.  Let  him, 
that  hath  understanding,  count  the  number  of  the  beast : 
for  it  is  the  number  of  a  man  ;  and  his  number  is  six 
hundred  three  score  and  six." 

A  commentator  upon  the  prophecies  of  Daniel  and 
St.  John  can  never  be  too  much  upon  his  guard  against 
the  fascinating  idea,  that  he  may  expect  to  find  even/ 
passing  event  of  his  orjn  day  there  predicted.  Before  he 
ventures  to  introduce  any  exposition  founded  upon  pres- 
ent circumstances,  he  ought  to  make  it  clearly  appear, 
that  it  both  accords  with  the  chronoloffival  order  so  care- 
fully  preserved  in  those  prophecies,  that  it  strictly  har- 
monizes with  the  language  of  smijbols^  and  that  it  de- 
monstrates every  part  of  the  prediction  to  tally  exactly 
with  its  supposed  accomplishment.  How  far  /  have  at- 
tended to  this  sound  canon  of  interpretation  in  the  re- 
marks already  made  upon  the  character  of  the  king  who 
was  to  raagnify  himself  above  everij  God,  upon  the  scoff- 
ers of  the  last  days,  and  upon  the  tremendous  calamities 
conceived  to  have  been  introduced  by  the  blast  of  the  third 
woe-trumpet,  the  cautious  reader  must  decide.  My  ob- 
ject, however  I  may  have  succeeded,  has  been  the  seri- 
ous investigation  of  truth,  not  the  mere  establishment  of 
a  system.  I  have  endeavoured  to  the  best  of  my  judg- 
ment to  follow  prophecy,  not  to  lead  it  to  my  own  pre- 
conceived scheme  of  exposition. 

Respecting  this  second  apocalyptic  beast,  truth  con- 
strains me  to  say,  that  neither  Mr.  Kelt,  nor  Mr.  Gallo- 
way, appear  to  me  to  have  attended  to  the  foregoing 
canon  in  their  remarks  upon  its  prophetic  character. 

Mr.  Kett  thinks,  that  the  second  beast  and  the  image 
are  Infdelitif  and  Democratic  tijranny ;  that  the  tzvo 
horns  afthe  beast  are  the  German  illuminati  and  French 
pseudo-philosophers  ;  and  that  the  partictdar  democratic 


1.33 

iyrannif  symboUzed  by  the  image  is  the  t'evohitionarif  re- 
public of  France.  Having  laid  down  these  principles, 
Jie  observes,  (what  no  doubt  is  perfectly  true,)  that  it 
was  lii/idelitij^  which  so  bewitched  the  minds  of  the  peo- 
ple as  to  induce  them  to  set  up  the  atheistical  republic  ; 
and  that,  when  the  image  was  thus  set  up,  it  caused  as 
many  as  would  not  worship  it  to  be  killed.  He  further 
observes,  that  all,  both  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor, 
were  compelled  to  wear  a  mark  in  their  foreheads,  the 
tn-coloured  cockade^  as  acknowledging  the  authority  of 
the  beast  and  his  image  ;*  and  that  those,  who  refused 
this  badge  of  democratic  atheism,  were  formerly  pro- 
scribed, and  deprived  of  the  common  rights  of  hu- 
manity.f 

In  this  interpretation  Mr.  Kett  has  only  noticed  such 
parts  of  the  prophecy  as  apparently  accord  with  it :  he  is 
totally  silent  respecting  several  particulars,  which  are  al- 
together inapplicable  to  Infidelity  and  Revolutionary 
France.  Such  being  the  case,  his  interpretation  cannot 
be  valid  :  for  no  exposition  of  a  prophecy  is  admissible, 
except  the  prophecy  agree  with  its  supposed  accom- 
plishment in  every  particular*]* — St.  John  describes  the 
secotid  beast  as  "  doing  great  wonders,  in  order  that  he 
may  make  fire  come  down  from  heaven  on  the  earth  in 
the  sight  of  men  ;  and  as  deceiving  them  that  dwell  on 
the  earth  by  means  of  those  miracles,  which  he  had  pow- 
er to  do  in  the  sight  of  the  first  beast."  The  second  beast 
therefore  must  plainly  be  some  power,  which  comes,  like 
the  man  of  sin.,  with  signs  and  lying  wonders,  deceiving 
for  a  season  the  whole  world  with  pretended  miracles. 
Such  a  character  as  this  however  by  no  means  answers 
to  Infidelity.  Modern  philosophers,  so  far  from  making 
any  claims  to  miraculous  powers,  take  a  pleasure  in 
scoffing  at  even  the  real  miracles  recorded  in  Scripture. 

'  Mr.  Kett  does  not  expressly  say  this ;  but  I  fancy  it  is  what  he  mearrs.  See  Hist, 
the  Interp.  Voli.  p.  S96,  420. 

t  Flist.  the  Interp.  Vol.  i.  p.  413,  419.  Vol.  ii.  p.  152 — 208. 

I  It  is  much  to  be  doubted,  whether  tie  very  prl-.ciple  of  this  interpretation  be  ad- 
missible, independent  of  all  the  objections  to  which  it  is  liable.  It  seems  to  me  so  lit- 
tle agreeable  to  symbolical  analogy  to  term  Infidelity  a  beast  or  an  unii-ersal  fisitle  t-m- 
pire,  that  I  should  certainly  not  have  ventured  myself  to  bring  forward  such  an  ex- 
planation of  the  symbol  in  question. 


134 

How  is  it  possible  then  that  Infidelilij  can  be  the  second 
beast? — So  again  :  if  we  ask  an  unprejudiced  reader  of 
the  whole  prediction  relative  to  the  tzvo  apocalijptic  beasts, 
what  his  sentiments  are  respecting  them  ;  he  will  answer, 
that,  whatever  powers  those  two  beasts  may  symbolize, 
they  are  evidently  two  co-existing  powers,  linked  together 
in  the  closest  manner,  perfectly  friendly  to  each  other, 
and  apparently  contributing  their  mutual  strength  for 
the  accomplishment  of  some  common  design.  1  confi- 
dently appeal  to  any  person  not  previously  wedded  to 
some  favourite  system,  whether  this  be  not  the  plain  and 
obvious  meaning  of  the  prophecy.*  Now,  whether  the 
first  beast  be  the  Fapacij,  as  Mr.  Kett  supposes,  or  the 
Roman  empire  in  its  divided  state  after  it  had  lapsed  into 
idolatry,  as  I  have  endeavoured  to  prove  ;  in  either  case, 
if  Infidelitij  be  the  second  beast,  it  certainly  has  shewn 
itself  the  very  reverse  of  being  friendly  to  the  first  beast : 
for  the  anti-social  part  of  the  Jacobin  conspiracy  was  as 
steadily  directed  against  all  regular  government,  as  its 
anti-christian  part  was  against  all  religion.  Before  Mr. 
Kett's  exposition  therefore  can  be  allowed  to  be  well- 
founded,  he  must  point  out  in  what  manner  Infidelitij 
"  caused  the  earth  and  all  them  which  dwell  therein  to 
worship  the  beast  whose  deadly  wound  was  healed  ;" 
that  is  to  say,  in  what  manner  LfideUtij  caused  the 
whole  world  to  devote  themselves  to  the  apostate  prin- 
ciples upheld  by  the  beast.  He  may  possibly  say,  that 
Buonaparte  has  now  taken  those  apostate  principles,  un- 
der his  special  protection,  and  has  formally  entered  into 
a  league  with  the  Pope.  This  however  is  not  the  point. 
The  question  is  not  what  an  ambitious  individual  has 
done,  merely  to  serve  his  own  purposes  ;  but  what  In- 
jidelitif  has  done,  that  Infidelity  which  set  up  the  atheistic 

*  This  point  is  so  self-evident,  that  some  commentators  have  thence  run  into  the 
very  contrary  extreme  to  that  of  Mr.  Kett ;  and  have  imagined,  that  i/je  Hvo  beasts 
are  actually  one  and  the  same  foiver,  or,  as  thev  express  it,  the  same  Antichrist  under  tivo 
different  symbols.  (See  Pol.  Synop.  in  loc.)  Indeed  either  this,  or  something  very 
nearly  a  kin  to  it,  is  the  fault  chargeable  upon  the  systems  both  of  Mr.  Mede,  Bp. 
Newton,  Dr.  Zouch,  and  Mr.  Whitaker.  Such  an  opinion,  although  certainly  not 
agreeable  to  the  plain  declaration  of  the  Apostle,  who  assures  us  tiiat  the  second  bcjst  is 
"  another  beast"  and  therefore  not  the  same  as  the  jirst  beast,  serves  at  least  to  shew,  that 
none  of  these  commentators  ever  supposed  the  tivo  beasts  to  be  hostile  to  each  other. 
Mr.  Mede  justly  remarks,  that  they  are  linked  together  by  the  strongest  bonds  of 
friendship :  "  surama  necessitudine  inter  se  devinct^i;." 


135 

cal  rcpuhUc,  or  the  image  (as  Mr.  Kett  supposes)  of  the 
least.  Now  InJideUtif  placed  itselHn  direct  opposition 
to  c// religion  ;  and  what  Buonaparte  has  done  has  been 
simply  to  avail  himself  of  the  wild  confusion  excited  by 
Injidelitij.  The  favour  therefore,  which  he  has  shewn 
to  Popery,  can  by  no  ingenuity  be  construed  into  an  act 
of  that  Injidelitij  which  was  the  parent  of  French  democ- 
racy. Since  Infidelitij  then  has  shewn  the  most  deter- 
mined hostility  to  the  first  beast^  whether  the  Papacij  or 
the  divided  Roman  empire  be  symbolized  by  that  beast, 
how  is  it  possible  that  Infidelitij  can  be  the  second  beast ! 
— Further :  a  beast^  in  the  language  of  symbols,  is  an 
universal  empire  e.\ihex  temporal  ov  spiritual.  But  Infi- 
delitij cannot,  except  by  a  very  strained  interpretation, 
be  termed  either  a  temporal  or  a  spiritual  universal  cm- 
pire.  Infidelity  therefore  cannot  be  the  second  beast — ■ 
This  will  be  yet  more  evident,  when  we  consider  that 
St.  John,  with  a  view  to  give  us  an  insight  into  the  true 
character  of  the  second  beast.,  styles  liitr.  a  false  prophet.'^ 
Now,  since  a  true  prophet  is  one,  vr'ho  professes  himself 
a  servant  of  God,  and  who  either  delivers  true  predic- 
tions, or  who  faithfully  preaches  the  Gospel  of  Christ  ;f 
a  false  prophet  must  be  one,  who  equally  prefesses  him- 
self a  servant  of  God,  but  who  either  delivers  false  pre- 
dictions, or  who  garbles  and  corrupts  the  Gospel  of 
Christ.  It  is  evident  therefore,  that  Iniidelitij  cannot  be 
the  false  prophet  of  the  Apocalypse  ;  because  it  answers 
to  neither  of  these  descriptions  of  a  false  prophet.  In- 
fidelitij indeed  zealously  propagated  the  doctrines  of  a 
false  philosophy,  and  is  consequently  a  false  teacher  : 
but  it  certainly  cannot  be  styled,  with  any  propriety,  a 
false  prophet;  because,  so  far  from  claiming  a  divine 
commission,  like  Poperij  and  Mohammedism^  it  came  as 
an  absolutely  independent  teacher,  ridiculing  even  the 
very  existence  of  a  Deity.  Accordingly  we  find,  that 
St.  Peter,  when  foretelling  the  atheists  of  the  last  days, 
carefully  preserves  the  distinction  betweenjTr//^^  prophets 
and  false  teachers.      He  observes,   that,   as  there  were 

*  Compare  Rev.  xix.  20.  with  Rev.  xiii.  13,  14. 
f  This  last  is  a  signification  of  the  word  peculiar  to  the  New  Testament.     I  have 
already  noticed  it ;  and  therefore  it  ii  superfluous  to  say  any  thing  more  upon  the 
subiect. 


136 

false  prophets  among  the  ancient  people  of  God,  who 
imposed  upon  them  with  pretended  commissions  from 
heaven  ;  so  there  should  be  faUe  teachers  among  the 
Christians  of  the  last  daijs^  who  privily  should  bring  in 
damnable  heresies,  even  denying  the  Lord  that  bought 
them.*  If  then  these  teachers  were  to  denif  the  Lord 
that  bought  them,  it  is  plain  that  they  could  not  come  in 
his  name  like  the  false  prophets  of  Israel.  Hence  St. 
Peter,  with  the  strictest  propriety,  terms  the  ancient  im- 
postors/^//j-^  prophets ;  but  describes  the  modern  ones, 
as  being  onlyy^/A6'  teachers — In  addition  to  these  objec- 
tions, 1  might  inquire  with  what  justice  the  French  Re- 
public can  be  denominated  an  image  of  the  beast :  but, 
since  it  has  been  shewn  that  Infidclittj  cannot  be  the 
second  beast,  it  is  superfluous  to  discuss  that  part  of  Mr. 
Rett's  scheme  which  is  only  subordinate.  His  main 
position  being  subverted,  the  rest  of  the  edifice  falls  to 
the  fi^round  of  course. 

Mr.  Galloway's  system  is  nearly  allied  to  that  of  Mr. 
Kett,  though  in  some  particulars  it  differs  materially 
from  it.  He  supposes,  that  the  earth,  out  of  which  the 
beast  arose,  is  France;  that  the  beast  himself  is  the 
French  Republic ;  that  his  head  is  the  legislature  ;  that 
his  two  horns  are  the  tzvo  committees  of  safety ;  that  the 
fire,  which  he  brought  down  from  heaven  to  earth,  is  the 
ii)rath  of  God ;  that  the  wonders,  which  he  performed, 
are  the  victories  of  France ;  that  the  image,  which  he  set 
up,  and  to  which  he  gave  life  and  speech,  is  the  prostitute 
goddess  of  reason  and  libertij ;  ihat  his  ?nar/i' h  the  cap 
of  libertij  and  the  tri-coloured  cockade ;  and  that  the 
number  ^^^,  the  number  also  of  «  man,  must  be  sought 
for  in  the  name  of  the  last  French  monarch  Louis,  when 
Latinized,  Ludovicus.-\ 

*  2  Pete/ii.  I . 

t    I -0 

U 5 

D 500 

O O 

V 0 

I t 

C 100 

y 5 

s o 


66G 


i 


Vo7 

The  ^rst  objection  to  Mr.  Galloway's  interpretation  is 
the  same  as  one  that  has  already  been  made  to  Mr.  Kett's. 
It  represents  the  second  beast^  as  hostile^  instead  oifriendlij^ 
to  the  first :  for  Mr.  Galloway,  like  Mr.  Kett,  supposes 
the  first  beast  to  be  the  Papucij.  This  objection  Mr. 
Galloway  struggles,  and  (I  think)  ineffectually  struggles, 
to  remove  :  me  at  least  all  his  arguments  have  only  serv- 
ed to  convince,  that  it  never  can  be  removed  either  by 
himself  or  by  Mr.  Kett :  and,  be  it  again  observed,  the 
objection  is  equally  forcibly,  whether  the  first  beast  be 
the  Papacy,  or  the  divided  Roman  empire — The  second  ob- 
jection is,  that  without  the  least  authority  he  pronounces 
the  earth  in  this  particular  part  of  the  prophecy  to  mean 
France.  The  earth,  as  is  sufficiently  evident  from  the 
general  context,  means  throughout  the  whole  Apocalypse 
the  Roman  empire.  This  appears  no  where  more  clearly 
than  in  the  present  chapter,  where  all  theij  that  dzcell 
upon  the  earth  are  described  as  worshipping,  or  devoting 
themselves  to  the  apostate  principles  of,  the  ten-horned 
beast.*  Yet  does  Mr.  Galloway  declare,  that  the  earth, 
in  a  subsequent  part  of  this  very  chapter,  means  France — 
The  third  objection  is,  that,  according  to  the  analogy  of 
figurative  language,  France  cannot  be  symbolized  by  a 
heast.  A  beast  is  an  universal  empire,  either  temporal  or 
spiritual :  and,  when  it  denotes  a  temporal  universal  em- 
pire, its  horns  are  kingdoms.  France  however  is  only 
07ie  of  the  ten  horns  of  the  great  Roman  beast ;  and  there- 
fore most  assuredly  never  can  be  represented  by  the  sym- 
bol of  a  nezv  and  distinct  beast.  Were  this  the  case,  St. 
John  would  be  at  open  variance  with  Daniel.  The  He- 
brew prophet  expressly  maintains,  that  there  shall  arise 
no  fifth  temporal  beast,  but  that  the  fourth  or  Roman 
beast,  shall  be  the  last.  Now,  \i  France  be  the  tzco-horn- 
ed  beast  of  the  Apocalypse,  we  must  conclude  that  it 
'will  become  a  fifth  universal  empire  altogether  distinct 
from  the  ancient  Roman  empire ;  otherwise  it  will  not  be 
a  beast,  but  only  «  horn  :  and,  if  it  f/o  become  a  beast  or 
universal  empire,  then  it  will  be  the  fifth  ;  the  existence 
of  which  Daniel  plainly  denies,  asserting  that  the  ten- 

'  Rev.  xlii.  3,  S. 
VOL.    IT.  48 


138 

horned  beast  or  divided Rommi  empire  under  its  last  head 
will  be  immediately  succeeded  by  the  triumphant  reign  of 
Christ.  So  that,  let  the  matter  be  viewed  in  what  light 
it  may,  Revoiiittoiiarij  France  cannot  he  the  second  apoca- 
lijpfic  beast — T\\e  fourth  objection  is,  that  tlie  French  Re-' 
public  cannot  be  denominated  a  false  prop  liet.  The  sec- 
ond beast  however  is  the  false  prophet  oi  \\\e  Revelation. 
Therefore  the  French  Republic  cannot  be  the  second 
beast — The  ffth  objection  is,  that,  if  the  wonders  per- 
formed by  the  second  beast  mean  only  the  French  victo- 
ries, it  does  not  appear  how  he  could  deceive  them  that 
dwell  upon  the  earth  with  such  wonders  as  these.  The 
miracles,  wrought  by  the  beast,  are  immediately  connect- 
ed with  his  bringing  down  fire  from  heaven,  and  his  giv- 
ing life  and  utterance  to  an  image  ;  and  by  these  miracles, 
thus  performed,  he  is  said  to  deceive  the  world.  Such  is 
the  simple  assertion  of  the  prophet ;  an  assertion,  which 
no  critical  art  can  torture  to  mean  Gallic  militarif  ex- 
ploits— The  last  objection,  which  1  shall  make,  is  to  the 
notion,  that  we  are  to  seek  for  the  number  of  the  beast  in 
the  name  Ludovicus.  This  notion  is  perfectly  untenable 
even  according  to  Mr.  Galloway's  own  scheme.  He  sup- 
poses, that  the  number  666,  is  the  number  of  the  second 
beast,  of  that  beast  in  short  which  he  conceives  to  be  the 
French  Republic.  Let  us  for  a  moment  allow  that  he  is 
right  in  this  supposition,  and  discuss  the  point  according- 
ly. St.  John  informs  us,  that  the  second  beast  should  per- 
mit no  man  either  to  buy  or  to  sell,  "  save  he  that  had 
the  mark,  or  the  name  of  the  beast,  or  the  number  of  his 
name."  Hence  it  is  evident,  that  the  name  of  the  beast 
(supposing  with  Mr.  Galloway  that  the  second  beast  is 
here  intended),  which  comprehends  his  nujslic  number, 
should  be  something  so  peculiarly  dear  to  him,  that  he 
should  compel  all  his  votaries,  in  some  manner  or  another, 
to  bear  it,  under  pain  of  a  severe  interdict.  But  has  this 
been  the  case  with  the  chaotic  republic  and  the  name 
Ludovicus  !  Has  she  forbidden  all  to  buy  or  sell,  except 
those  who  bore,  or  (to  admit  the  lozcest  sense)  who  rev- 
erenced, the  name  of  her  last  unfortunate  sovereign  ?  Is 
it  not  notorious  to  the  whole  world,  that  her  conduct  has 
been  exactly  the  reverse?   So  far  from   none  being  per- 


139 

mitted  by  her  to  exercise  the  common  rights  of  society 
except  the  royalists,  or  (to  bestow  upon  them  the  name 
of  their  king)  the  Ludov'tciuns^  these  of  all  others  are  the 
very  persons  whom  she  has  formally  proscribed.  We 
may  reasonably  then  conclude,  that,  although  the  word 
Ludovicus  happens  to  contain  ihe  number  6^6^  it  is  not 
on  that  account  alone  the  name  of  the  bcast^  any  more 
than  various  other  words  which  may  possibly  contain  the 
same  number.  Thus  it  appears,  that,  even  upon  Mr. 
Galloway's  own  principles,  Ludovicus  cannot  be  the  name 
of  the  beast :  much  less  therefore  can  it  be  that  myste- 
rious name,  when  we  find  that  he  has  completely  mistak- 
en the  one  beast  for  the  othei\  attributing  to  the  second 
beast  the  name  which  in  reality  belongs  to  the  first. 
What  St.  John  says,  in  his  particular  description  of  the 
name,  is  certainly  ambiguous  ;  insomuch  that,  had  he  said 
nothing  more  upon  the  subject,  it  might  have  been  a 
matter  of  doubt,  whether  the  name  was  the  name  of  the 
first  or  of  the  second  beast.  But  he  has  amply  cleared 
up  this  point  in  various  other  passages,  wherein  he  plainly 
intimates,  that  ihe  name  is  the  name  oithat  beast  to  whom 
an  image  was  made.*  But  the  beast,  to  whom  an  image 
was  m^idefxs  the ^first  beast :  consequently  the  name  is 
the  name  of  the  first  beast,  and  not  (^f  the  second  as  Mr. 
Galloway  erroneously  supposes.  Arguing  then  with  him, 
either  upon  his  own  principles,  or  upon  the  real  state  of 
the  case,  we  shall  find  it  equally  impossible  to  admit  that 
Ludovicus  is  the  name  of  tlie  beast. ^ 

On  these  grounds  I  am  constrained  to  think,  that  both 
Mr.  Kett  and  Mr.  Galloway  have  erred  in  their  respec- 

*  See  Rev.  xiv.  II. — xv.  2. — six.  20.  and  xx.  4. 

f  Both  Mr.  Galloway  and  Mr.  Kett  are  of  opinion,  that  the  txro-kcrned  beast  of  tij 
earth  is  the  same  as  thi  beast  of  the  bottomless  pit  which  makes  war  upon  the  ivHireucs. 
This  opinion  I  have  already  shewn  to  be  entirely  erroneous.  (See  Galloway's  Com- 
ment, p.  162 — 208.  and  Hist,  the  Interp.  Vol.  i.  p.  391.)  Their  sentiments  upon 
this  point  must  necessarily  lead  them  both  into  the  strang'e  notion,  that  the  faithful 
luitnesses  of  Gad  are  the  pophh  clergy  who  were  murdered  and  banisiied  by  the  a'^he- 
i5tical  republicans  of  France.  Mr.  Galloway  accorJinu;ly  avov^s  without  hesiiation, 
that  the  saints  of  GoJ,  who  arc  mentioned  by  Daniel  as  worn  out  by  the  Utile  hem .  and 

who  are  evidently  the  same  as  the  apocalyptic  ivitnesses^  are  those  zery  popish  clergy.      The 

impropriety  and  erroneousness  of  such  a  notion  has  already  been  so  fully  pointed 
out,  that  it  is  superfluous  now  to  resume  the  subject, 


140 

tive  interpretations  of  the  prophetic  character  of  the  sec- 
ond beast  and  the  imageJ^ 

Bp.  Newton's  scheme  is  much  less  objectionable. 
That  valuable  commentator  clearly  saw,  that  the  izoo 
apocalifptic  beasts  instead  of  being  at  utter  enmity  with 
each  other,  were  united  in  the  closest  bonds  of  friend- 
ship. Having  therefore  adopted  the  opinion  that  the 
jirst  beast  was  the  Papacij^  he  concluded  that  the  second 
was  the  Roman  Church  ;  thus  injudiciously  separating 
what  ought  never  to  have  been  divided,  and  thus  rending 

•  Ml".  Sharpe  supposes  the  second  least  to  be  the  secular  Roman  emjyire  under  'Justin'iaiu 
Justinian  however  was  the  representative  of  the  sixth  head  of  the  Jirst  Least.  Hence  it 
is  manifest,  that  Mr.  Sharpe  makes  the  second  beast  to  be  in  fact  the  same  as  the  first. 
Independent  of  this  palpable  tautology,  which  the  prophet  carefully  guards  u? 
against  by  assuring  us  that  the  second  beast  was  another  beast,  the  Emperor  Justinian 
neither  performed  any  miracles  for  the  purpose  of  deceiving  those  that  dwelt  upon 
the  earth,  nor  can  he  or  any  of  his  successors  be  termed  a  false  prophet.  In  short, 
whatever  power  be  intended  by  the  second  beast  or  the  false  prophet,  it  must  be  some 
power  at  this  present  moment  in  existence,  because  the  false  prophet  is  not  to  be  destroy- 
ed till  the  battle  of  Armageddon  at  the  expiration  of  the  1260  \ears.  (Rev.  xix.  20.)  The 
second  beast  therefore  czwwoi  be  the  Empire  of  Justinian,  because  that  has  long  since 
been  subverted  by  the  Turks.  Yet  does  Mr.  Sharpe  censure  all  preceding  com- 
mentators,  as  having  entirely  misunderstood  the  character  of  the  second  beast,  because 
thev  apply  it  to  the  Pope  himself :  he  ought  rather  to  have  said  the  Roman  clergy,  for 
1  doubt  whether  any  commentators  ever  supposed  the  Pope  himself  to  be  intended  by 
ihe  second  beast.      Append,  to  An  Inquiry  into  the  Description  of  Babylon,  p.  .S — 6. 

Mr.  Bicheno  endeavours  to  prove,  that  the  second  beast  is  the  tyranny  exercised  by  th- 
Capets  since  the  time  of  Louis  XIV,  and  that  the  image  is  the  system  of  persecution  adopted 
hy  them  against  the  Protestants.  l"he  memory  of  him  who  revoked  the  edict  of  Nantz 
I  detest  as  much  as  Air.  Bicheno  himself  can  do  ;  but  mere  abhorrence  is  no  argu- 
ment. It  will  be  superfluous  to  discuss  this  scheme  at  large,  when  a  single  word  i? 
suflicient  to  overturn  the  whole  fabric.  The  second  beast  or  the  false  prophet,  for  Mr. 
Bicheno  very  justly  maintains  their  identity,  is  to  be  overthrown  at  the  battle  of  Ar- 
mageddon under  the  last  i-ial ,-  and  the  Ottoman  empire,  for  SO  Mr.  Bicheno  with  equal 
proprietv  understands  the  mystic  Euphra'.es,  is  to  be  subverted  under  the  sixth  -oiah 
But  the  Ottoman  empire  is  not  yet  subverted  ;  therefore  the  sixth  -vial  is  not  yet  poured 
CHit  :  and,  if  the  sixth  -vial  be  not  yet  poured  out,  of  course  the  seventh  is  not  :  and,  if 
the  seventh  be  not,  the  false  prophet  is  not  yet  overthrown  :  and,  if  lie  be  not  yet  over- 
thrown, he  is  now  in  existence.  The  tyranny  of  the  Capets  however  is  already  over-? 
thrown  :  therefore  that  tyranny  cannot  be  the  second  beast.  Signs  of  the  times,  Part  I. 
p.  17—25. 

Mr.  Lowman  thinks,  that  the  second  beast  symbolizes  the  German  ecclesiastical  electors, 
prince-bishops,  baronial-abhots ,  and  other  ecclesiaslico-tcmporal  states  that  resemble  in  their  coiir 
stitution  the  bishopric  of  Rome  united  ivifh  St.  Peter's  patrimony.  Independent  of  every 
Other  objection  that  might  be  made  to  this  scheme,  it  has  received,  like  the  foregoing 
one  of  Mr.  Bicheno,  a /rac/ifff/ confutation.  The  recently  adopted  system  ot  secu- 
larization,  for  the  purpose  of  indemnifying  (as  it  is  called)  those  German  temporal 
princes  who  have  been  despoiled  of  their  territories  by  the  robberies  of  France,  has 
effectually  slain  this  supposed  second  beast  previous  to  the  icar  of  Armageddon  under 
the  seventh  vial,  to  which  period  his  overthrow  is  assigned  by  the  prophet.  Hence  it 
is  manifest,  that  the  second  beast  certainly  cannot  be  what  Mr.  Lowman  supposes  him 
to  be.     Paraph,  in  Ice. 


141 

(as  it  were)  the  head  from  the  bodtj*  The  fact  is,  what 
mi^ht  appear  a  contradiction  till  it  was  actually  fulfiilecl, 
the  tii:o  beasts  are  tivo  imkersal  empires^  not  only  existing: 
together  each  under  its  proper  and  distinct  head,  but  n)u- 
tually  supporting  and  strengthening  each  other.  Daniel 
however  declares,  that  the  ten-horned  beast  is  the  last 
universal  empire ;  and  yet  St.  John  represents  this  verif 
beast  as  co-existing  with  another  beast ^  or  another  uni- 
versal empire  :  for,  that  the  tivo  beasts  are  two  powers 
perfectlij  distinct  from  each  other^  is  manifest,  not  only 
from  their  different  symbolical  conformation,  but  from 
the  express  words  of  the  prophet  :  "  1  beheld,"  says  he, 
"  another  beast."  Hence  it  is  plain,  that  the  second  apoc- 
ahjptic  beast  cannot  be  a  iempot^al  universal  empire  :  both 
because  it  is  physically  impossible,  that  two  temporal  em- 
pires., each  universal  so  far  as  the  Church  is  concerned, 
should  exist  together  ;  and  because,  if  the  second  beast  of 
the  Apocalypse  were  a  temporal  empire^  it  would  be  a 
ffth  temporal  empire.,  whereas  Daniel  declares  that  there 
shall  only  he  four.  But,  if  the  second  beast  be  not  a  tem- 
poral empire,  it  mus,i  be  a  spiritual  empire ;  for  nothing 
but  a  spiritual  empire  can  co-exist  with  a  tempot^al  em- 
pire. Accordingly  we  find  this  to  be  the  very  case  :  for 
St.  John,  as  if  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  error,  explicitly 
informs  us,  that  the  second  beast  should  be  a  folse  proph- 
e/,f  Q\  an  ecclesiastical  power  ;  which,  under  the  pretence 
of  a  divine  commission,  should  grievously  corrupt  the 
genuine  Gospel  of  Christ. :|: 

Here  then  we  have  a  plain  prediction  of  some  spiritual 
power,  which  should  come  in  the  name  of  God  as  a  sound 
evangelical  prophet  or  preacher  ;  which  should  arrogate 
to  itseM  universal  or  catholic  authority  in  religious  mat- 
ters ;  which  should  co-exist  upon  the  most  friendly  terms 
with  the  ten-horned  temporal  empire,  \nsi\g'dUn§\t  to  per- 

*  Air.  Medomore  iiidiciously  supposes  f^je  second  beast  to  be  the  Roman  pontiff  iv'ith 
his  clerrry.  "  Bcstia  bicomis,  sive  pseudopropheta,  pontifex  est  Romanus  cum  suo 
clero."     Com.  Apoc.  in  loc.  i 

f  Compare  Rev.  siii.  12 — 17.  with  Rev.  xix.  20. 

\  "  The  false  prophet^'  says  Bp.  Newton  very  justly,  "  is  a  ioJy  or  succession  of  men 
propagating  false  doctrines,  and  teaching  lies  for  sacred  truths"  The  second  beast  IS  mani- 
festly styled  a  false  prophet  m  direct  opposition  to  ;/"•  '%vo  iriystic  ivitnesses,  who  are 
the  true  propbets  of  God. 


U2 

secute,  during  the  space  of  42  prophetic  months  or  1260 
ifears^  all  such  as  should  dare  to  dispute  its  usurped  dom- 
ination ;  and  which,  in  short,  should  solve  the  symboli- 
cal problem  Q){  two  contemporary  beasts,  by  exhibiting  to 
the  world  the  singular  spectacle  of  a  complete  empire 
within  cm  empire.  Where  we  are  to  look  for  this  power, 
since  the  great  Roman  beast  was  divided  into  ten  horns 
and  during  the  period  of  his  existence  under  his  last  sec- 
ular head  the  Carlovingian  line  of  feudal  Emperors,  let 
the  impartial  voice  of  history  determine  :  and  that  voice 
without  hesitation  will  declare,  that  the  catholic  church 
of  Rome,  the  spiritual  empire  of  which  the  Pope  is  the 
alloii'ed  head,  can  alone  answer  to  the  prophetic  descrip- 
tion of  such  a  power.*  At  its  first  rise,  the  Papacy  ap- 
pears in  the  book  of  Daniel  only  as  a  little  horn  springing 
out  of  the  first  or  secular  beast :  but  that  little  horn  is 
represented  as  soon  becoming  exceeding  powerful,  and 
as  influencing  the  actions  of  thezvhole  beast.  When  the 
saints  were  given  into  its  hand  in  the  year  606,  the  papal 
lingdom  became  an  imiversal  spiritual  empire ;  and,  as 
such,  it  is  represented  by  St.  John  under  the  symbol  of 
a  distinct  beast  having  a  proper  head  and  horns  of  his  own. 
That  the  little  horn  of  the  Roman  beast  typifies  the  same 
pozver  as  the  second  apocalyptic  beast,  is  manifest  indeed 
from  this  circumstance.  Daniel,  who  fully  delineates 
the  character  of  the  little  horn,  is  entirely  silent  respect- 
ing the  txoo-horned  beast ;  and  St.  John,  who  as  fully  de- 
lineates the  character  of  the  tivo-horned  beast,  is  entirely 
silent  respecting  the  little  Jiorn.  Accordingly  we  find, 
that  the  little  horn,  and  tJie  two-horned  beast,  act  precisely 

*  The  Papists,  by  a  wonderful  fatality,  have  constantly  styled  themselves  Catho' 
ILi,  and  their  particular  church  t/je  Cutbolic  Church  ;  tlius  holding  themselves  forth 
as  members  of  the  bodv  of  the  second  beast,  or  catholic  ecclesiastical  empire.  In  this  sense 
of  the  word,  we  readily  concede  to  them  the  title  of  Catholics;  m  \ts  genuine  &cnsQt 
as  importing  members  of  the  spiritual  body  of  Christ,  we  claim  the  title  no  less  than 
themselves.  These  pretended  Catholics  the  Church  of  England  uniformly  denomi- 
nates Papists  ;  and,  as  I  have  no  inclination  to  uncatholicise  myself,  I  have  throughout 
the  present  work  adopted  her  phraseology  in  preference  to  the  more  fashionable 
one  of  the  day.  I  freely  allow,  that  the  Papists  are  members  of  the  catholic  beast  ,• 
b\U  I  cannot  bring  myself  to  style  them  Catholics,  as  if  they  were  the  only  members  of 
the  true  catholic  church.  If  protestants,  in  the  height  of  modern  liberality,  grant  that 
none  but  the  adherents  of  the  Papacy  are  real  Catholics,  they  do  indeed  plead  guilty  to 
the  less  courteous  appellation  of  Heretics,  with'which  I  am  not  aware  that  the  Pa- 
pists liave  ever  ceased  to  honour  us. 


143     . 

in  the  same  capacity ;  each  exercising  all  the  power  of 
the  first  beast  before  him,  each  being  a  false  seer  or 
prophet^  and  each  perishing  in  one  common  destruction 
with  the  Jirst  or  secular  beast. ^ 

1.  The  second  beast  sprung  up  out  of  the  earthy  and  is 
described  as  being  another  ^^gaY  perjecthj  distinct  J  rum 
the  first — In  the  language  of  the  Apocalypse,  the  earth 
denotes  the  Roman  EjNpire  :'\  the  spiritual  pointer  there- 
fore, symbohzed  by  the  beast,  must  be  sought  for  within 
the  limits  of  that  empire.  There  accordingly  we  find  the 
eclesiastical  empire  of  the  Pope.  The  sixth  head  of  the 
temporal  beast  long  claimed  and  exercised  supremacy 
over  the  Church  :  but,  in  the  year  606,  the  tyrant  Phocas 
constituted  Pope  Boniface  supreme  head  in  spirituals,  and 
bestowed  upon  him  the  title  of  Universal  Bishop.  In 
this  year  then  the  second  beast,  or  the  universal  empire  of 
the  Pope,  arose  out  oi the  earth:  and  it  has  ever  been  the 
policy  of  its  ruler  to  separate  it  from  the  temporal  empire,, 
to  keep  it  perfectly  distinct  as  an  imperium  in  imperio,  and 
never  suffer  it  to  lose  its  prophetic  character  oi ''^  anoth- 
er beast.^^  To  cite  history  for  the  purpose  of  proving  so 
well  known  a  fact  seems  almost  superfluous,  nevertheless 
1  cannot  refrain  from  noticing  a  single  incident  which  am- 
ply explains  the   nature  of  this   policy  of  the   Popes. 

*  Compare  Dan.  vii.  8,  11,  21,  25,  26.  with  Rev.  xiii.  5,  7,  12,  15,  IG,  17.  and 
xix.  20. 

f  Mr.  Mede  and  Bp.  Newton  suppose,  that  //><?  least  n'si;/g  out  nf  tie  earth  means, 
th'dt  the  po-zuer  typified  by  the  beast  should  groiv  up  like  a  plant  silently  and  tviiljoiit  noisc^ 
intimating  further  that  "  the  greatest  prelates  have  often  been  raised  from  monks 
and  men  of  the  loivest  birth  and  parentage."  Mr.  Wliitaker  and  Dr.  Zouch,  confining 
without  any  just  warrant  the  character  of  the  beast  to  the  monastic  orders,  think  that 
the  phrase  imphes  his  rise  in  the  East ;  and  Mr.  Whitaker  adds,  that  it  may  partly 
allude  to  the  rise  of  those  orders  in  times  of  peace  and  prosperity.  Both  these  interpre- 
tations eeem  tome  to  be  needless,  not  to  say  unauthorised,  refinements.  Since //j- 
farth  throughout  the  whole  Apocalypse  means  the  Roman  empire,  and  no  where  more 
decidedly  so  than  In  the  present  chapter,  what  occasion  is  there  to  annex  to  it  here 
a  fresh  idea  .'  The  prophet  had  just  before  declared,  that  the  -u-lmle  earth  wondered 
after  the  great  Roman  beast,  and  that  all  that  dwell  upon  the  earth  should  worship 
him  ;  (Rev.  xiii.  3,  S.)  and  he  now  proceeds  to  inform  us,  that  he  beheld  another  beas'. 
coming  up  out  of  the  earth,  (Rev.  xiii.  1 1.)  teaching  us  afterwards  that  this  other  beast 
should  deceive  those  that  dwelt  on  the  earth.  (Rev.  xiii.  1 4.)  Now  it  is  only  reason- 
able to  suppose,  that  what  the  word  earth  means  in  one  part  of  a  chapter,  it  should 
mean  in  another.  Since  then  the  earth  which  wondered  after  the  Roman  beast  can  only 
mean  those  ivbo  diuelt  upon  that  earth,  and  since  those  ivho  divelt  upon  the  earth  can  only 
mean  the  inhabitants  of  the  Roman  Empire  ;  we  must  surely  conclude,  that,  when  a 
hcast  is  said  to  come  up  out  of  thii  fcr\  earth,  the  Romin  etjtpire  IS  here  likewise  in- 
tended. 


Hi 

When  Eihvard  thejirst  of  England  wished  to  impose 
a  tax  upon  the  Clergy,  "  Boniface  the  eighth^  who  had 
succeeded  Celest'me  in  the  papal  throne,  was  determin- 
ed to  resume  the  authority,  which  had  been  for  some 
time  relaxed  by  his  predecessors,  and  to  become  the 
protector  of  the  spiritual  order,  against  all  invaders. 
For  this  purpose  he  issued  very  early  in  his  pontificate 
a  general  bull,  prohibiting  all  princes  from  levying  with- 
out his  consent  any  taxes  upon  the  clergy,  and  all  cler- 
gyman from  submitting  to  such  impositions  ;  and  he 
threatened  both  of  them  with  the  penalties  of  excom- 
munication in  case  of  disobedience.  No  sooner  there- 
fore had  the  king  made  his  demand  on  the  clergy  of  the 
fifth  of  their  moveables,  than  they  intrenched  themselves 
under  the  bull  of  Pope  Boniface,  and  pleaded  con- 
science in  refusing  to  comply  with  the  requisition. 
Edward  avoided  proceeding  immediately  to  extremi- 
ties on  this  account ;  but,  having  given  orders  to  lock 
up  all  their  granaries  and  barns,  and  prohibited  all  rent 
to  be  paid  to  them,  he  appointed  a  new  synod  to  confer 
with  him  upon  his  demand.  The  primate,  not  intimi- 
dated by  Edward's  resolution,  plainly  told  him,  that  the 
clergy  owed  obedience  to  two  sovereigns,  their  spiritual 
and  their  temporal ;  but  their  duty  bound  them  to  a  much 
stricter  attachment  to  the  former  than  to  the  latter:  they 
eould  not  therefore  comply  with  his  commands,  which 
were  directly  contrary  to  the  positive  prohibition  of  the 
sovereign  pontiff."*  The  subsequent  steps  taken  by  Ed- 
ward to  inforce  obedience  it  is  needless  here  to  detail  : 
enough  has  been  said  to  shew  in  what  manner  the  second 
beast  which  sprung  out  of  the  earthy  was  "  another  beast." 
2.  He  had  tiC'O  horns  like  a  lamb — As  the  secular  beast 
is  represented  with  seven  heads  and  ten  horns,  so  the  ec' 
clesiastical beast  appears  with  only  one  head  and  tivo  horns. 
Now,  since  we  have  already  seen,  that  the  secular  beast 
under  his  last  head  is  the  divided  Roman  empire  under  the 
line  oj  Carlovingian  emperors  ;  the  ecclesiastical  beast  un- 
der  his  single  head,  who  has  co-existed  and  co-operated 
wilh  the  secular  beast,  must  necessarily  be  the  corrupt 

'  Mod.  Univ.  Hist.  Vol.  xxsii.  p.  COJ,  20C. 


J 


145 

church  of  Rome  under  the  line  of  those  pretended  univer" 
sal  bishops,  the  Popes.  And  here  we  cannot  but  observe 
the  wonderful  exactness  with  which  the  two  principal 
apocalyptic  symbols,  the  first  and  the  second  beast,  are 
contrived.  The  Roman  empire,  having  existed  under 
seven  different  constitutions,  is  described  by  a  beast  with 
seven  heads ;  but  the  catholic  church  of  Rome,  never  hav- 
ing existed  under  more  than  one  form  of  government, 
namely  the  papal,  is  therefore  described  by  a  beast  zcith 
on/i/  one  head. 

This  head  however  is  furnished  with  two  horns.  In 
the  language  of  symbols,  horns  are  kingdoms  :  conse- 
quently the  horns  of  an  ecclesiastical  beast  mn^t  be  eccle- 
siastical kingdoms.  Now  1  know  not  what  idea  we  can 
annex  to  an  ecclesiastical  kingdom,  subservient  to  the  head 
of  an  ecclesiastical  empire,  except  that  of  «  regularly  or- 
ganizedbodij  of  ecclesiastics  subject primarilij  to  their  own 
immediate  superior,  and  ultimately  to  the  head  of  the 
zvhole  empire.  If  the  church  of  Rome  then  be  intended  by 
the  second  apocahjptic  beast,  and  the  Pope,  by  the  head 
of  that  beast,  it  must  co^n'^xehexid  tzco  such  ecclesiastical 
kingdoms ;  that  is  to  say,  it  must  comprehend  two  regu- 
larly organized  bodies  of  ecclesiastics,  distinct  from  eaclt 
other,  and  subject  primarily  to  their  respective  superiors, 
and  ultimatelif  to  the  Pope.  Mr.  Whitaker  and  Dr. 
Zouch  suppose  that  the  two  horns  are  the  monks,  vvho 
were  at  first  divided  into  t'wo  classes  :  the  Cenobites,  who 
(to  adopt  the  language  of  Mr.  Gibbon)  "  lived  under  a 
common  and  regular  discipline  :  and  the  Anachorets,  who 
indulged  their  unsocial,  independent,  fanaticism.^*  And 
Mr.  Whitaker  adds,  that  in  a  later  age  the  papal  author- 
ity was  more  especially  supported  by  tzvo  mendicant  or" 
ders  of  monks,  the  Dominicans  and  Franciscans — This 
opinion  seems  to  me  by  no  means  tenable  for  various  rea- 
sons— Monasticism  first  arose  in  the  East  about  the  year 
30o,  and  thence  passed  into  the  West.  The  second  apoc- 
alyptic beast  however,  or  the  catholic  empire  of  the  Pope, 
did  not  spring  up  out  of  the  earth  till  the  ifear  606.  Con- 
sequently the  original  two  fold  division  of  the  monks  mthe 
East  cannot  make  them  the  two  horns  of  a  beast,  which 
sprung  up,  long  after  that  division,  in  the  ^  e^^/— But  it 

VOL.  II.  19 


146 

may  be  said,  that,  although  their  extraction  be  oriental^ 
there  is  no  inconsistency  in  supposing  that  they  might 
afterioards  become  horns  of  the  beast.,  when  they  had  ex- 
tended themselves  vnestward.,  and  mightily  exerted  them- 
selves in  support  of  the  papal  authority.  Here  then  an- 
other objection  presents  itself.  1  readily  allow,  that  the 
character  of  the  Cenobites  perfectly  answers  to  the  char- 
acter of  aw  ecclesiastical  hoini  or  kingdom.  They  were  a 
regularly  organized  body  of  men  ;  bound  by  certain  laics., 
and  subject  first  to  their  superior  and  in  after  ages  through 
him  to  the  Pope.  But  1  can  discover  none  of  the  charac- 
teristics o^  a  horn  in  the  Anachorets.  These,  so  far  from 
being  united  under  a  settled  government  and  from  pro- 
fessing obedience  to  a  superior,  "renounced  the  convent 
as  they  had  renounced  the  world  ;"  and,  plunging  into 
the  deepest  solitudes  of  the  desert  far  from  the  haunts  of 
men,  "indulged  their  unsocial,  independent.,  fanaticism." 
Such  being  the  case,  the  Anachorets  can  with  no  more 
propriety  be  esteemed  a  horn  or  regular  ecclesiastical  gov- 
ernment, than  meji  in  a  nomade  state  can  be  considered  as 
constituting  a  regular  secular  government — Perhaps  this 
part  of  the  scheme  may  be  given  up,  and  it  may  be 
asserted  that  the  Dominicans  and  Franciscans  are  the  two 
//or/?5  exclusively,  neither  of  those  two  orders  being  lia- 
ble to  be  charged  with  the  disqualification  of  the  Ana- 
chorets. Here  again  fresh  objections  still  arise.  Both 
those  orders  are  comparatively  of  a  late  date  :  and  are  we 
to  suppose,  notwithstanding  the  early  rise  of  monasti- 
cism,  that  the  beast  had  no  horns  till  the  days  of  Dominic 
and  Francis  \  Or  even,  if  we  venture  to  adopt  such  a  sup- 
position, were  the  Dominicans  and  Francisca?is  the  only 
orders  ?  That  they  were  the  most  conspicuous  orders  dur- 
ing three  centuries  is  no  doubt  perfectly  true,  but  they 
were  certainly  very  far  from  standing  alo7ie.  As  the  ten 
horns  of  the  secular  beast  represent  precisely  that  num- 
ber of  kingdoms,  though  some  of  them  were  strong  and 
some  weak  ;  so,  arguing  at  least  from  analogy,  had  the 
horns  of  the  ecclesiastical  beast  been  designed  to  repre- 
sent the  monastic  orders.,  there  would  surely  have  been 
just  as  many  horns  as  there  were  orders.,  though  some  of 
those  were  strong  and  some  weak — In  opposition  then  to 


147 

this  scheme  which  seems  to  me  to  be  clogged  with  too 
many  difficulties  to  be  admissible,  I  am  more  inclined  to 
think  with  Bp.  Newton,  that  the  two  horns  are  the  Rom- 
ish clergij.  regular  and  secular.  The  first  of  these  clas- 
ses comprehends  all  the  various  monastic  orders ;  the  sec- 
ond comprehends  the  whole  budij  of  parochial  clergy. 
These  two  classes  I  conceive  to  be  the  two  ecclesiastical 
horns  or  kingdoms  of  the  catholic  empire  of  the  Pope.  In 
every  particular  they  answer  to  the  character  of  horns^ 
being  two  distinct  regularly  organized  bodies^  subject Jirst 
to  their  own  particular  superiors^  and  ultimately  to  the 
Pope  the  head  of  the  Kohole  empire. 

The  manner,  in  which  these  two  ecclesiastical  kingdoms 
of  the  papal  empire  were  erected,  will  best  appear  by  ad- 
verting to  history. 

"  The  imperious  pontiffs,"  says  Mosheim,  "  always 
fond  of  exerting  their  authority,  ext^mpted  by  degrees 
the  monastic  orders  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  bishops. 
The  monks,  in  return  for  this  important  service,  devoted 
themselves  wholly  to  advance  the  interests,  and  to  main- 
tain the  dignity  of  the  bishop  of  Rome.  They  made  his 
cause  their  own  ;  and  represented  him  as  a  sort  of  god 
to  the  ignorant  multitude,  over  whom  they  had  gained  a 
prodigious  ascendant  by  the  notion  that  generally  prevail- 
ed of  the  sanctity  of  the  monastic  order."'^  The  same 
historian  further  observes,  "  The  monastic  orders  and 
religious  societies  have  always  been  considered  by  the 
Roman  pontiff s  as  the  principal  support  of  their  authority 
and  dominion.  It  is  chiefly  by  them  that  they  rule  the 
Church,  maintain  their  influence  on  the  minds  of  the 
people,  and  augment  the  number  of  their  votaries.""]*  Of 
this  the  following  passage  affords  a  remarkable  instance. 
"  The  power  of  the  Dominicans  and  Franciscans  greatly 
surpassed  that  of  the  other  two  orders,  and  rendered 
them  singularly  conspicuous  in  the  eyes  of  the  world. 
During  three  centuries  these  two  fraternities  governed, 
with  an  almost  universal  and  absolute  sway,  both  church 
and  state  ;  filled  the  most  eminent  posts  ecclesiastical  ' 
and  civil  ;  taught  in  the  universities  and  churches  with 

*  Mosheim's  Eccles.  Hist.  Vel,  ii.  p.  1 12.  f  Ibid.  Vol.  iv.  p.  184, 


U8 

an  authority,  before  which  all  oppositioD  was  silent ;  and 
maintained  the  pretended  majesty  of  the  Roman  pontiff's 
against  kings,  princes,  bishops,  and  heretics,  with  incred- 
ible ardour  and  success.  The  Dominicans  and  Franciscans 
were  before  the  Reformation  what  the  Jesuits  have  been 
since  that  happy  and  glorious  period  ;  the  very  soul  of 
the  hierarchy,  the  engines  of  the  state,  the  secret  springs 
of  the  motions  of  the  one  and  of  the  other,  and  the  au- 
thors and  directors  of  every  great  and  important  event 
both  in  the  religious  and  political  world."*  The  com- 
plete distinctness  of  this ^?st  horn  or  ecclesiastical  king- 
dom of  the  beast  from  the  other,  by  means  of  their  ex- 
emption from  episcopal  jurisdiction,  will  appear  yet  more 
evidently  from  the  following  passage.  "  Vv  hWe  the  pon- 
tiffs accumulated  upon  the  mendicants  the  most  honour- 
able distinctions  and  the  most  valuable  privileges  which 
they  had  to  bestow,  they  exposed  them  still  more  and 
more  to  the  envy  and  hatred  of  the  rest  of  the  clergy  ; 
and  this  hatred  was  considerably  increased  by  the  auda- 
cious arrogance  that  discovered  itself  every  where  in  the 
conduct  of  these  supercilious  orders.  They  had  the  pre- 
sumption to  declare  publicly,  that  they  had  a  divine  im- 
pulse and  commission  to  illustrate  and  maintain  the  re- 
ligion of  Jesus;  they  treated  with  the  utmost  insolence 
and  contempt  all  the  different  ranks  and  orders  of  the 
priesthood  ;  they  affirmed  without  a  blush,  that  the  true 
method  of  obtaining  salvation  was  revealed  to  them  alone  ; 
proclaimed  with  ostentation  the  superior  efficacy  and  virr 
tue  of  their  indulgencies  ;  and  vaunted,  beyond  measure, 
their  interests  at  the  court  of  heaven,  and  their  familiar 
connections  with  the  Supreme  Being,  the  A  irgin  Mary, 
and  the  saints  in  glory.  By  these  impious  wiles  they  so 
deluded  and  captivated  the  miserable  and  blinded  multi- 
tude, that  they  would  not  intrust  any  others  but  the 
mendicants  with  the  care  of  their  souls,  their  spiritual 
and  eternal  concerns."f  Thus  it  appears,  that  the  mo- 
nastic orders  constituted  a  icell  organized  bodif,  govern- 
ed by  their  own  laws,  exempt  from  episcopal  jurisdiction, 
subject  to  their  respecti-ce  generals  or  superiors,  but  pay- 

*  Mosheim's  Ecdes.  Hi«t.  Vol.  iii.  p.  195.  f  Ibid.  p.  204. 


149 

ing  at  the  same  time  an  implicit  obedience  to  the  Pope.. 
In  short  they  perfectly  answer  to  every  idea  that  we  can 
form  of  a7i  ecclesiastical  kingdom  under  the  control  of 
the  head  of  an  ecclesiastical  empire. 

The  second  horn  of  the  beast  I  suppose  to  be  the  secu- 
lar popish  clergy.  As  the  monks  were  subject,  first  to 
the  superiors  of'  their  orders^  and  ultimately  to  the  Pope  ; 
so  the  secular  or  parochial  clergij  were  subject,  first  to 
their  respective  bishops,  and  ultimately  to  the  sovereign 
pontiff".  Various  preparatory  steps  were  taken  towards 
the  erecting  of  this  second  ecclesiastical  horn  or  kingdom 
before  the  t/ear  606,  when  the  Pope  was  declared  univer- 
sal Bishop,  and  whence  therefore  I  date  the  rise  of  the 
second  beast  or  the  papal  catholic  empire.  The  decrees 
of  the  Emperors,  and  the  metropolitan  dignity  of  Rome, 
gradually  conferred  upon  the  Popes  an  archi-episcopal 
authority  over  the  western  bishops,  previous  to  the  time 
when  they  were  formally  declared  by  Phocas  the  head  of 
the  universal  Church.*  In  the  eighth  centurif  Germany 
was  reduced  under  the  yoke  by  an  English  friar  named 
Boniface,  whom  Gregory  the  third  consecrated  Arch- 
bishop of  Mentz  ;  constituting  him  at  the  same  time  his 
vicar,  with  full  power  to  call  councils,  and  to  constitute 
bishops  in  those  places,  which  were  by  his  assistance  con- 
verted to  the  Christian  faith.  In  the  first  of  these  coun- 
cils, Boniface  presiding  in  quality  of  legate  of  the  Roman 
chair,  the  clergy  signed  a  certain  confession  of  faith, 
whereby  they  obliged  themselves,  not  only  to  maintain 
the  catholic  faith,  but  also  to  remain  in  constant  union 
with  the  Roman  church,  and  to  be  obedient  to  the  suc- 
cessors of  St.  Peter.  "  This  Boniface,"  says  Puffendorff, 
"  was  the  first,  who  put  it  upon  the  bishops  of  Germany 
to  receive  the  episcopal  pall  from  the  Pope,  who  sent  it 
to  the  bishops  of  France  without  their  request,  thereby 
to  unite  them  with  the  Roman  chair.  And,  when  once 
these  ornaments  were  become  customary  amongst  them, 
they  were  put  upon  them  afterwards  as  of  absolute  ne- 
cessity ;  and  the  episcopal  function  was  forbidden  to  be 

*  The  reader  will  find  a  very  circumstantial  account  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
Bishops  0/ y?oOTf  gradually  extended  their  authority  over  the  West,  in  Sir  Isaac  New- 
ton's Observ.  on  Daniel,  chap.  viji. 


150 

exercised  by  them  before  they  had  received  these  orna- 
ments."* The  same  author  further  observes,  "  Besides 
this,  the  Popes  assumed  to  themselves  an  authority  of 
giving  leave  to  the  bishops  to  remove  from  one  episcopal 
see  to  another,  and  obliged  all  the  western  bishops  to  re- 
ceive their  confirmation  from  Rome,  for  which  they  were 
obliged  to  pay  a  certain  sum  of  money  as  an  acknowl- 
edgment, which  was  since  converted  to  annats.  The 
Popes  also,  by  making  void  the  decisions  of  the  provin- 
cial synods  or  assemblies,  overthrew  their  authority  : 
wherefore,  when  every  body  plainly  perceived  that  the 
decrees  of  these  assemblies  could  produce  no  other  effects 
but  to  be  continually  annulled  by  the  Popes.^  without  so 
much  as  hearkening  to  any  reasons,  they  were  by  degrees 
quite  abolished.  Pope  Gregory  the  seventh  also  forced 
the  bishops  to  swear  an  oath  of  fealty  to  the  Pope^  and 
by  a  decree  fbrbad^^  that  none  should  dare  to  condemn 
any  one  that  had  appealed  to  the  Pope.  They  were  also 
not  forgetful  in  sending  legates  or  nuncios  to  all  places  ; 
whose  business  was  to  exercise  in  the  name  of  the  Pope 
the  same  authority,  which  had  formerly  belonged  to  the 
bishops,  metropolitans,  and  provincial  assemblies. "+  In 
this  passage  mention  is  made  of  the  oath  of  fealty  ex- 
acted by  Gregory  the  seventh  from  the  bishops.  A  sim- 
ilar oath  has  been  imposed,  even  since  the  Reformation, 
by  Pius  the  fourth  on  all  the  beneficed  clergy.  He  de- 
creed, that  they  should  all  swear  true  obedience  to  the 
Roman  pontiffs  the  successor  of  St.  Peter,  and  vicar  of 
Jesus  Christ. §  In  short,  how  completely  the  clergy  un- 
der their  bishops  became  one  of  the  tzQO  ecclesiastical  kiiig- 
doms  of  the  papal  beast,  will  best  appear  from  the  follow- 
ing oath,  set  forth  by  order  of  Pope  Clement  the  eighth  to 
be  taken  by  all  bishops  at  their  consecration,  and  by  all 
metropolitans  at  their  instalment. 

"  1  N.  elect  of  the  church  of  N.  from  henceforward 
will  be  faithful  and  obedient  to  St.  Peter  the  Apostle, 
and  to  the  holy  Roman  church,  and  to  our  lord,  the  lord 
N.  Pope  N.  and  to  his  successors  canonically  coming  in. 

*  Introduct.  to  Hist,  of  Eur.  cited  bv  Whitaker,  p.  404.  f  Enacted. 

i  Tatroduct.  to  Hist,  of  Eur.  cited  by  Whitaker,  p.  406.         §  Ibid.  p.  407, 


161 

1  will  neither  advise,  consent,  or  do  any  thing;  that  they 
may  lose  life  or  member,  or  that  their  persons  may  be 
seized,  or  hands  any  wise  laid  upon  them,  or  any  injuries 
offered  to  them  under  any  pretence  whatsoever.  The 
counsel,  which  they  shall  intrust  me  withal,  by  them- 
selves, their  messengers,  or  letters,  1  will  not  knowingly 
reveal  to  any  to  their  prejudice.  1  will  help  them  to  de- 
fend and  keep  the  Roman  Papacy  and  the  royalties  of 
St.  Peter,  saving  my  order,  against  all  men.  The  legate 
of  the  apostolic  see,  going  and  coming,  I  will  honourably 
treat  and  help  in  his  necessities.  The  rights,  honours, 
privileges,  and  authority,  of  the  holy  Roman  church,  of 
our  lord  ike  Pope,  and  his  foresaid  successors,  I  will  en- 
deavour to  preserve,  defend,  increase,  and  advance.  I 
will  not  be  in  any  counsel,  action,  or  treaty,  in  which 
shall  be  plotted  against  our  said  lord,  and  the  said  Ro- 
man church,  any  thing  to  the  hurt  or  prejudice  of  their 
persons,  right,  honour,  state,  or  power  ;  and,  if  1  shall 
know  any  such  thing  to  be  treated  or  agitated  by  any 
whatsoever,  I  will  hinder  it  to  my  power;  and,  as  soon 
as  1  can,  will  signify  it  to  our  said  lord,  or  to  some  other 
by  whom  it  may  come  to  his  knowledge.  The  rules  of 
the  holy  fathers,  the  apostolic  decrees,  ordinances,  or  dis- 
posals, reservations,  provisions,  and  mandates,  1  will  ob- 
serve with  all  my  might,  and  cause  to  be  observed  by- 
others.  Heretics,  schismatics,  and  rebels  to  our  said  lord, 
or  his  foresaid  successors,  1  will  to  my  power  persecute 
and  oppose."* 

As  for  the  precise  steps,  by  which  this  ecclesiastical 
kingdom  was  finally  and  perfectly  organized,  they  are 
well  pointed  out  by  Lord  Lyttelton  in  his  history  of 
Henry  the  second.  "  It  was  now  an  established  notion,*' 
says  he,  "  that  all  metropolitans  were  only  the  vicars  or 
rather  viceroys  of  the  Pope  in  their  several  provinces  ; 
and  the  pall  was  the  ensign  of  their  office.  This  was  too 
lightly  given  way  to  by  kings,  and  proved  in  its  conse- 
quences one  of  the  deepest  arts,  by  which  the  policy  of 
the  court  of  Rome  supported  its  power.  For  thus  all  the 
greatest  prelates,  who  might  have  affected  an  independ- 

'  Whitaker's  Comment,  p.  40«. 


152 

ence  on  that  see,  had  another  object  of  ambition  set  up, 
namely,  an  independence  on  their  own  sovereigns,  and 
an  imparted  share  of  the  papal  dominion  over  all  tem- 
poral powers."  And  again  :  "  Henry  the  first  did  not 
enough  consider,  how  much  the  design  of  detaching  the 
clergy  from  any  dependence  upon  their  own  sovereign, 
and  from  all  ties  to  their  country,  was  promoted  by  forc- 
ing them  to  a  life  of  celibacy  :  but  concurred  with  the 
see  of  Rome,  and  with  Anselm  its  minister,  in  imposing 
that  yoke  upon  the  English  church,  which  till  then  had 
always  refused  it — He  was  also  prevailed  upon  to  suffer 
a  legate  a  latere^  the  Cardinal  of  Crema,  t9  preside  in  a 
council  held  at  London  upon  this  and  other  matters,  in 
derogation  to  the  metropolitan  rights  of  the  archbishop 
of  Canterbury  ;  thereby  confirming  that  dangerous  and 
degrading  subjection  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome ^  which  his 
father  had  brought  upon  the  church  of  England."* 
There  was  yet  another  step,  by  which  the  second  eccle- 
siastical kingdom  of  the  j)apal  empire  was  both  complet- 
ed, and  kept  in  subjection.  Well  knowing  the  truth  of 
the  maxim  Divide  and  rule ^  the  artful  pontiffs  dexterously 
contrived  to  play  off  the  one  kingdom  against  the  other, 
to  govern  the  secular  clergy  by  the  instrumentality  of 
the  regular.  "  \Yhene\er  any  bishop  "  says  Puffendorff, 
"  attempted  any  thing  against  the  Papers  authority,  the 
mendicant  J riars  with  their  clamour  and  noise  pursued 
him  every  where  like  so  many  hounds,  and  rendered  him 
odious  to  the  common  people,  amongst  whom  they  were 
in  great  veneration  through  their  outward  appearance  of 
holiness  ;  and  from  thence  it  came  to  pass,  that  the  bish- 
ops^ who  opposed  the  Pope's  authority,  never  could  make 
a  great  party  among  the  common  people.  Besides  this, 
the  friars  always  kept  a  watchful  eye  over  the  actions  of 
the  bishops^  giving  continual  advices  concerning  them  to 
their  generals  residing  at  Rome,  whereby  the  Popes  were 
enabled  to  oppose  timely  any  design  intended  against 
their  authority.  And  these  friars  proved  the  main  ob- 
stacle, why  the  bishops  could  not  so  effectually  oppose 
the  Pope's  authority  which  he  assumed  over  them  ;  so 

♦  Hisr.  of  Henry  II.  cited  by  Whitaker,  p.  410,  41 1. 


that,  being  destitute  of  means  to  help  themselves,  they 
were  fo.ced  to  follow  the  current."* 

1  he  regular  and  secular  clergy  then,  under  their  re- 
spective generals  and  bishops^  are  the  tico  horns  or  ecclesi- 
astical kingdoms  of  the  papal  catholic  empire.  These  ho?^nsf 
appeared  to  the  prophet  to  be  of  a  different  form  from 
those  of  thejirst  or  temporal  beast :  they  resembled  the 
horns  of  a  lamb.  Now,  when  we  recollect  that  the  sec- 
and  beast  is  styled  a  false  prophet.,  we  can  scarcely  doubt 
but  that  the  symbol  was  so  constructed  in  allusion  to  his 
spiritual  character.  Accordingly  the  two  ecclesiastical 
horns  claimed  to  be  the  only  servants  of  the  Lamb  of  God, 
and  affected  to  be  like  him  in  meekness  and  humility. 
Solemnly  devoting  themselves  to  a  life  of  celibacy,  and 
ever  engaged  in  a  round  of  religious  ceremonies,  they  ap- 
peared to  the  deluded  populace  to  be  saints  indeed,  far 
removed  from  all  the  cares  and  vanities  of  this  transitory 
world.  And,  in  order  that  this  impression  might  not  be 
too  soon  worn  off,  new  saints  were  at  seasonable  inter- 
vals added  to  the  calendar;  and  their  names  enrolled 
along  with  those  of  the  real  servants  of  the  Lamb,  the 
holy  Apostles  of  the  primitive  Church.  Even  the  sov- 
ereign pout  iff'  himself,  who  had  a  look  more  stout  than 
his  fellows,  delighted  nevertheless  to  style  himself,  with 
sanctified  hypocrisy,  the  servant  of  the  servants  of  God.'\ 

3.  But^  7iotzcithstanding  his  lamb-like  appearance,  the 
beast  spake  as  a  dragon — The  church  of  Rome,  like  a 
true  child  of  that  old  serpent  the  devil,  forcibly  estab- 
lished and  supported  idolatry  ;  claimed  a  proud  superior- 
ity over  all  temporal  dominion  ;  advanced  her  interests 
with  all  the  wily  cunning  of  the  serpent  ;  anathematized 
and  persecuted  to  death  the  faithful  servants  of  Christ ; 
and  esteemed  every  lie  and  every  imposture,  which  ad- 

*  Hi5t.  of  Henry  II.  cited  by  Whitaker,  p.  416. 

■f  We  may,  if  we  please,  suppose  tie  cardinals  to  constitute  tie  body  of  tbi  second 
heast ;  and  we  shall  then  have  t/je  ivhole  Ri^mish  Hierarchy  completely  pourtrayed. 
"  Prselati  Romanenses  in  Universitate  Pragensi  congregati,  contra  Johannem  Hus- 
sum  et  alios  affirmant  (in  quarto  suo  decreto  sen  articulo),  quod  collegium  cardinali- 
rim  Romcs  sunt  corpus  Ecdesia.  Cui  respondet  Johannes  Hussus,  Christum  esse  caput 
Ecclesiiz,  omnesque Jideles  Christianos  corpus  esse  Ecctesije  Christi.  Cui  replicant  Pralati 
processu  longo  et  tcedii  pleno,  ostendentes,  quomodo  Papa  sit  caput,  et  quomodo 
cardinalium  collegium  solum,  et  non  alii  Cbristiani,  sint  corpus  Ecdesia."  Act.  et  MonU- 
i  went.  A.  D.  1414.  p.  589, 590,591.  cited  by  Potter,  Interp.  num.  GQG.  Can.  xix.  p.  121. 
VOL.    II.  ^      20 


154 

vanced  her  authority,  a  laudable  and  even  pious  fraud. 
That  no  faith  is  to  be  kept  with  heretics^  is  a  well  known 
maxim  of  this  genuine  offspring  of  the  father  of  lies  :  that 
kings  excommunicated  bij  the  Pope^  maij  he  deposed  and 
murdered  bif  their  subjects^  is  another  of  her  maxims  : 
and  that  the  end  sanctifies  the  means,  that  it  is  /aicfii/  to 
do  evil  that  good  may  come,  has  been  the  avowed  princi- 
ple of  the  Jesuits,*  Her  dracontine  cruelty  and  ferocity 
need  no  proofs.  Where  pagan  Rome  hath  slain  her  thou- 
sands/;«/;«/ i?o;we  hath  slain  her  ten  thousands.  "  The 
fourth  council  of  Lateran,"  says  Bp.  Burnet,  "decreed, 
that  all  heretics,  should  be  delivered  to  the  secular  pow- 
er to  be  extirpated — If  a  man  had  but  spoken  a  light 
word  against  any  of  the  constitutions  of  the  church,  he 
was  seized  on  by  the  bishop's  officers  :  and,  if  any  taught 
their  children  the  Lord's  prayer,  the  ten  commandments, 
and  the  Apostles'  creed,  in  the  vulgar  tongue, "j*  that  was 
criminal  enough  to  bring  them  to  the  stake,  as  it  did  six 
men  and  a  woman  at  Coventry  in  the  Passion  week 
i<519."+  Here  it  may  be  observed,  that,  while  thejirst 
or  secular  beast  is  represented  as  making  war  with  the 
saints  and  overcoming  them,  it  is  no  where  said  that  the 
second  or  ecclesiastical  beast  and  the  image  which  he  set 
up  should  do  more  than  cause  them  to  be  killed.  The 
above-cited  decree  of  the  council  of  Lateran  shews  how- 
exact  the  prophecy  has  been  in  this  particular.  The  little 
horn  hath  always  worn  out  the  saiutsby  causing  them  to 
be  killed,  or  by  delivering  them  over  to  the  secular  arm,^ 

*  The  maxims  of  the  Jesuits  are  these,  "  That  actions  intrinsically  evil,  and  di- 
rectly contrary  to  the  divine  laws,  may  be  innocently  performed  by  those  who  have 
so  much  power  over  their  own  minds,  as  to  join,  even  ideally,  a  good  end  to  this 
wicked  action,  or  (to  speak  in  the  siyle  of  the  Jesuits,)  who  are  capable  of  directing 
their  intention  aright."  (Mosheim's  Eccles.  Hist.  Cent.  17.  Sect.  2.  p.  1.  cited  by 
Whitaker.)  Thus  it  appears,  that  the  Jesuits  were  the  prototypes  of  Weishaupt's 
diabohcal  sect  of  Illuminati. 

f  In  direct  opposition  to  this  abominable  system  of  keeping  the  people  in  pro- 
found ignorance,  the  church  of  England  specially  charges  all  sponsors  to  provide, 
tJjat  the  child,  for  whom  they  have  been  sureties,  "  may  learn  the  Creed,  the  Lord's 
Praver,  and  the  ten  Commandments,  in  the  vulgar  tongue,  and  all  other  things 
which  a  Cliristian  ought  to  know  and  believe  to  his  soul's  health."  Office  of  Bap- 
tism. 

:|:  Hist,  of  Reformation  cited  by  "Whitaker,  p.  419. 

§  On  this  occasion,  the  Inquisitors,  with  a  disgusting  afTectation  of  lamb-likr 
meekness,  are  wont  to  beseech  tiie  civil  magistrates  to  shew  mercy  to  those  unfortu-^ 
nate  victims  whom  they  themselves  have  given  up  to  be  consigned  to  the  flames- 


\55 

not  by  Uterallif  slaying  them  itself.  "  Who  can  make 
any  computation,  or  even  frame  any  conception,  of 
the  numbers  of  pious  Christians,  who  have  fallen  a 
sBcrifice  to  the  bigotry  and  cruelty  of  Rome?  Mede 
hath  observed  from  good  authorities,  that  in  the  war 
with  the  Waldenses  and  Albigenses  there  perished  of 
these  poor  creatures  in  France  alone  a  million.  From 
the  first  institution  of  the  Jesuits  to  the  year  1480,  that 
is  in  little  more  than  thirty  years,  900,000  orthodox 
Christians  were  slain.  In  the  Netherlands  alone,  the 
Duke  of  Alva  boasted,  that  within  a  few  years  he  had 
dispatched  to  the  amount  of  36,000  souls,  and  those  all 
by  the  hand  of  the  common  executioner.  In  the  space 
of  scarce  thirty  years.,  the  Inquisition  destroyed,  by  vari- 
ous kinds  of  tortures,  loO,000  Christians.  Sanders  himself 
confesses,  that  an  innumerable  multitude  of  Lollards  and 
Sacramentarians  were  burnt  throughout  all  Europe  ;  who 
yet,  he  says,  were  not  put  to  death  by  the  Pope  and 
Bishops,  but  by  the  civil  magistrates :  which  perfectly 
agrees  with  this  prophecy  ;  for  of  the  secular  beast*  it 
is  said,  that  he  should  make  war  with  the  saints  and 
overcome  them."f 

4.  He  exerciseth  all  the  power  of  the  first  beast  before 
him — Cardinals,  Prelates,  and  Monks,  were  long  the 
prime  ministers  of  the  European  sovereigns  :  and  the 
names  of  Wolsey,  Ximenes,  Richlieu,  and  Mazarine,  are 
handed  down  to  posterity  as  the  most  intriguing  and  am- 
bitious of  statesmen.  The  second  beast  indeed  is  properly 
*'  an  ecclesiastical  person,  but  he  intermixeth  himself 
much  in  civil  affairs.  He  is  the  prime  minister,  adviser, 
and  mover  of  the  first  beast. %  He  holdeth  imperium  in 
imperio,  an  empire  zoithin  an  empire  ;  claimeth  a  temporal 
authority,  as  well  as  a  spiritual ;  hath  not  only  the  prin- 
cipal direction  of  the  temporal  powers,  but  often  engagetli 

*  It  is  not  unworthy  of  notice,  that  Bp.  Newton  here  speaks  of  fhejirst  beast  as 
being,  what  he  really  is,  the  secular  Roman  empire,  as  contradistinguished  from  the  second 
beast  or  the  Roman  church. 

f  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  Rev.  xiii. 
\  Here  again  the  Bishop  speaks  of  the  frst  beast  as  being  the  secular  empire.     Thus 
does  his  original  opinion  force  itself,  as  it  were,  upon  him,  notwithstanding  all  that 
he  had  subsequently  said  respecting  the  \^enx\lv  oi  the  papal  little  horn  and  the  first 
be-zst. 


156 

them  in  his  service,  and  enforceth  his  canons  and  decrees 
with  the  sword  of  the  civil  magistrate."* 

6.  He  cuiiseth  the  earth  and  all  that  dwell  therein  to 
worship  the  first  beast  whose  deadly  zoound  -was  heated — ■ 
The  nature  of  this  worship  of  the  secular  bea.st  1  have  al- 
ready considered.  It  will  be  sufficient  therefore  at  pres- 
ent to  observe,  that,  since  it  is  impossible  for  DanieFs 
fourth  beast  or  the  Roman  empire  to  be  literally  worship- 
ped, the  adoration  here  spoken  of  must  mean  a  devotion 
to  those  principles  by  which  the  empire  was  equally 
made  a  beast  both  under  its  pagan  and  its  yj«/?r// emper- 
ors, both  under  its  sixth  head  and  its  last.  Those  prin- 
ciples consisted  in  the  -worship  of  images^  and  in  the  per- 
secution of  the  saints  :  and  it  was  the  second  beasts  who 
by  his  influence  caused  the  -whole  Roman  earth  once 
more  to  adopt  them  under  Poperif^  as  it  had  heretofore 
adopted  them  under  Paganism ;  it  was  the  second  beast^ 
■who  made  an  image  for  the  firsts  and  caused  all  men  to 
fall  down  and  worship  it.f 

*  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  Rev.  xiii. 

f  I  have  adopted  this  interpretation  of  the  worship  paid  to  the  first  or  secular  beast, 
not  as  being  free  from  all  objections,  but  as  that  which  after  an  attentive  considera- 
tion of  the  subject  appears  to  me  Uable  to  the  fezvtst.  The  interpretation  proposed 
by  Bp.  Newton,  is  to  my  mind  very  unsatisfactory.  "  As  the  first  beast  concurs  to 
maintain  the  authority  of  the  second,  so  he  in  return  confirms  and  maintains  the  sover- 
eignty and  dominion  of  the  frst  beast  over  his  subjects  ;  and  causetii  the  earth,  and 
them  who  dwell  therein,  to  worship  the  first  beast,  whose  deadly  wound  was  healed. 
He  supports  tyranny,  as  he  is  by  tyranny  supported.  He  inslaves  the  consciences,  as 
the  first  beast  subjugates  the  bodies  of  men."  (Dissert,  on  Rev.  xiii.)  Hence  it  appears, 
that  the  Bishop  conceives  the  worship,  which  was  paid  to  the  secular  beast  at  the  in- 
stigation of  the  ecclesiastical  beast,  to  be  merely  ci-vil  -worship  SO  far  increased  as  to  be- 
come passive  obedience.  Now,  bad  as  tyranny  in  the  state  may  be,  the  ivhole  crimi- 
nality of  it  must  be  ascribed  to  the  governors  ;  not  surely  to  the  govemed,  to  those  who 
patiently  submit  them.selves  like  the  primitive  Christians  to  every  ordinance  of  man 
however  tyrannical  for  the  Lord's  sake,  lest  by  resisting  they  should  receive  dam- 
nation. Were  nothing  more  then  meant  by  -worshipping  the  beast  than  an  unresisting 
submission  to  ci-jil  tyranny,  or  (as  Mr.  Whistcn  cited  by  the  Bishop  styles  it)  "  a  blind  obe- 
dience ;"  the  worshippers  of  the  beast  would  never  have  been  censured  by  the  prophet 
for  yielding  such  submission,  however  severely  he  might  have  animadverted  upon 
the  tivo  beasts  for  recommending  and  exacting  it.  "  If  any  man  worship  the  beast  and 
his  image, — the  same  shall  drink  of  the  wine  of  the  wrath  of  God,  and  he  shall 
be  tormented  with  fire  and  brimstone  ; — and  the  smoke  of  their  torment  ascendeth 
up  for  ever  and  ever ;  and  they  have  no  rest  day  nor  night,  who  worship  the  beast 
and  his  image."  (Rev.  xiv.  9,  10,  1  J.)  Can  we  suppose,  that  so  severe  a  punish- 
ment as  eternal  damnation  "  will  be  inflicted  upon  those  who  suffer  their  bodies  to  be 
subjugated  by  thefrst  beast  ?"  It  is  plain,  that  the  luorship  of  the  beast  is  connected 
with  the  luorship  of  his  iwage ;  and  that  this  worship  is  something  so  offensive  in  the 
eyes  of  God  as  to  incur  the  penalty  of  hell  fire  :  can  it  then  mean  nothing  more 
than  submitting  to  "  the  sovereignty  and  dotninion  of  the  first  beast  T'  It  may  be  remafkcd, 
that  Bp.  Newton  here  again  speaks  oi  the  first  beast  as  being,  not  th:  Papacy,  but  tit 


157 

6.  He  doeth  great  wonders^  in  order  that  he  may  make 
Jire  come  down  from  heaven  on  the  earth  in  the  sight  of 
men — '*  Miracles,  visions,  and  revelations,  are  the  mighty 
boast  of  the  church  ot  Rome,  the  contrivances  of  an  art- 
ful cunning  clergy  to  impose  upon  an  ignorant  laity," 
These  vvondrrs  the  beast  did  partly  in  order  that  he  might 
make  fire  come  down  from  heaven  upon  earth;  and 
partly,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  with  a  view  so  to  de- 
ceive mankind  as  to  induce  them  to  set  up  an  image  and 
worship  it.  Heaven  is  a  symbol  of  the  churchy  and  the 
earth  of  the  Roman  empire.  The  darting  therefore  of 
Jire  out  of  the  church  upon  the  secular  empire  must 
mean  solemn  interdicts  and  excommunications  pronounced 
against  those  who  dared  to  oppose  the  authority  of  the 
beast.  History  furnishes  many  memorable  examples  of 
such  ecclesiastical  censures.  The  whole  kingdom  of 
England  was  laid  under  an  interdict  in  the  reign  of  king 
John  :  and  numerous  are  the  other  European  sovereigns, 
against  whom  the  Popes  have  pronounced  sentence  of 
excommunication  and  deposition.*  The  submission  of 
the  people  to  this  exorbitant  stretch  of  power  was  found- 
ed upon  their  implicit  belief  in  the  sanctity,  authority, 
and  infallibility,  of  the  Roman  bishop  and  his  hicrarchif  : 
and  this  belief  was  kept  up  by  pretended  miracles,  which 
(it  was  asserted)  none  but  members  of  the  holtj  catholic 
church  could  perform  :  hence  it  is  said,  that  the  beast 
did  great  wonders,  in  order  that  he  might  bringdown  fire 

secular  Roman  empire  :  and  it  may  further  be  remarked,  that  his  present  interpreta- 
tion of  the  luorship  paid  to  the  heait  by  no  means  accords  with  that  which  he  had  pre- 
viously given,  and  which  I  believe  to  be  the  true  one.  "  All  the  ivorld  ivondered  after 
the  beast,  and  they  tvorshipped  the  dragon  ivhich  gave  poiver  unto  the  beast,  and  they  tvcr- 
shippcd  the  beast,  saying  ;  IVho  is  Hie  unto  the  beast  ?  Who  is  able  to  make  ivar  ivith  him  ? 
No  kingdom  or  empire  was  like  that  of  the  beast,  it  had  not  a  parallel  upon  earth, 
and  it  was  in  vain  for  any  to  resist  or  oppose  it,  it  prevailed  and  triumphed  over 
all ;  and  all  the  world,  in  submitting  thus  to  the  religion  of  the  beast,  did  in  effect 
submit  again  to  the  religion  of  the  dragon,  it  being  the  old  idolatry  with  new  names. 
The  I'jorshippiiig  of  demons  and  idols  is  in  effect  the  ivor shipping  of  deinls."  (Dissert, 
on  Rev.  xiii.)  Here  v/c  see  a  plain  reason  why  the  ivorship  of  the  beast  is  threatened 
with  eternal  damnation  :  it  consists  in  embracing  those  principles,  which  constitut- 
ed alike  the  bestiality  of  the  pagan  and  papal  Roman  empires  ;  not  in  paying  civil  homage 
to  the  beast. 

'-'  Brightman  has  the  following  curious  remark  on  this  part  of  the  prophecy- 
"  Hildebrandus,  in  epistola  ad  Germanos,  Plenricum  quartum  excommunicatione  sua 
percussum,  affatutn  fdmine  dixit :  nec  temere,  Spiritu  procul  dubio  gubernante  lin- 
guara,  ut  olim  Caiphse,  quo  mundus  inteUigeret,  qui  hesiiii  faceret  ignem  de  coelo  de- 
scr-'ndere."     Apoc.  Apoc.  Fe}.  215. 


lo8 

from  hea-jen  upon  earth ;  or,  in  other  words,  that  none 
might  dispute  his  right  and  power  of  excommunication. 
I  know  not  any  better  comment  upon  this  part  of  the 
jorophecy  than  the  use  which  was  made  of  the  miracles 
said  to  have  been  wrought  at  the  shrine  of  Archbishop 
Becket.  During  the  schism  in  the  church  ofRome^  that 
turbulent  prelate  had  espoused  the  cause  of  Pope  Alex- 
ander against  liis  competitor;  and  after  his  death  he  be- 
came a  wonder-working  saint.  Such  being  the  case,  the 
Jitigated  point  was  soon  decided.  "  Whereas  man}'," 
says  John  of  SaHsbury,  "  doubted  whether  Alexander 
v/as  the  true  Pope  or  not,  the  miracles  of  Becket  decid- 
ed that  question  in  his  favour,  as  they  could  not  have 
been  done  by  ofie  engaged  m  a  schism."*^  Tlius  was  Alex- 
ander confirmed  by  miracles  in  his  full  right  and  title  to 
anathematize  his  rival,  and  to  hurl  the  thunder-bolts  of 
the  church  at  all  his  opponents.  Nor  has  this  claim  to 
supernatural  gifts  been  made  solely  during  the  thick 
darkness  of  the  middle  ages  :  an  anonymous  Popish 
writer  even  of  the  last  century,  cited  by  Mr.  Whitaker, 
insists  upon  the  miraculous  powers  of  the  church  of  Rome 
down  to  the  then  present  time,  and  enumerates  many 
miracles  which  he  avers  to  have  been  performed  since 
the  era  of  the  Reformation.  At  the  conclusion  of  his 
catalogue  of  saints  endowed  with  such  powers,  he  ob- 
serves, that  "  all  the  persons  so  conspicuous  for  these 
supernatural  gifts  were  zealous  members  of  the  catholic 
church  ;^  meaning  doubtless  to  intimate,  that,  '\{ the  cath- 
olic church  (so  the  Papists  think  proper  to  denominate 
the  church  of  Rome)  were  not  the  onhf  true  churchy  its 
members  would  not  have  possessed  those  gifts.  Here 
then  we  have  another  instance  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  church  of  Rome  proved  itself  to  be  the  only  true 
church  by  lying  wonders.  When  that  point  Avas  once 
established  ;  when  the  strong  faith  of  a  determined  Papist 
once  admitted  the  reality  of  those  miracles;  and  when 
once  he  drew  from  them  the  desired  conclusion,  that, 
since  none  but  members  of  the  true  church  could  perform 
them,  the  church  of  Rome  whose  members  did  perform 

*  Whitaker's  Comment,  p.  391,  392.  f  Ibid.  p.  395 — 399. 


159 

them  must  doubtless  be  the  onlij  true  church :  the  rest 
would  follow  of  course  :  no  salvation  can  be  had  out  of 
the  true  church  ;  therefore  the  church  of  Rome  possesses 
an  undoubted  power  to  anathematize  and  excommuni- 
cate all  heretics. 

7 .  He  deceiveth  them  that  dwell  on  the  earthy  hij  means 
of' those  miracles  which  he  had  pozver  to  do  in  the  sight  of 
the  beast ;  saifing  to  them  that  dwell  on  the  earthy  thai 
they  should  make  an  image  for  the  beast^  whicli  had  the 
wound  hif  a  sword,  and  did  live.  And  he  had  pozver  to 
give  Ufe  unto  the  image  of  t lie  beast ^  that  the  image  of  the 
beast  should  both  speak,  and  cause  that  as  manij  as  would 
not  x<Dorship  the  image  of  the  beast  should  be  killed — Be- 
fore the  import  of  this  passage  can  be  determined,  its  ///- 
e-rft/ meaning  must  be  ascertained.  The  expression  the 
image  of  the  beast,  and  the  expression  the  beast  and  his 
image  which  elsewhere  occurs,  are  both  ambiguous;  in- 
asmuch as  they  may  signify  either  the  image,  in  the  sense 
of  the  effigies  of  the  beast,  or  the  image,  which  belongs  to 
the  beast.  Thus  the  image  of  Cesar  upon  the  Roman 
coin  means  doubtless  the  efjigies  of  Cesar  ;*  whereas  the 
linage  ofMicah  certainly  means  the  image  which  belonged 
to  Micah,  the  image  which  he  had  made  for  himself  to 
be  his  god.f  Had  no  other  expressions  then  occurred 
in  the  Apocalypse  except  the  image  of  the  beast  and  the 
beast  and  his  image,  we  should  have  been  unable  posi- 
tively to  determine  what  precise  idea  we  ought  to  annex 
to  this  image  ;  but  all  ambiguity  seems  to  be  removed  by 
the  manner  in  which  the  Apostle  introduces  his  account 
of  it.  It  is  said,  the  second  beast  so  deceived  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  earth  by  his  false  miracles,  that  he  induced 
them  to  make  an  image  to  or  for  the  first  beast.  Now  it 
is  surely  putting  a  very  great  force  upon  language  to  sup- 
pose that  the  making  an  image  for  the  beast  can  signity 
the  making  a  representation  of  him.  The  prohibition  in 
the  decalogue  relative  to  idolatry  is  couched  in  the  fol- 
lowing terms  :  "  Thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thee  any 
graven  image. ''t  Here  it  is  manifest,  that  the  making 
an  image  to  a  person^s  self  means  the  makmg  an  image 

*  Matt.  xxii.  19,  20,  2i.  f  Judges  xviii.  31. 

I  Exod.  XX.  4. 


160 

for  his  ozvu  use  and  worship  :  it  is  only  natural  there- 
fore to  suppose,  that  the  making  an  image  to  the  beast 
means  the  making  an  image  Jor  the  use  and  worship  of  the 
heast ;  and  consequently  that  the  image  of  the  beast  im- 
ports, not  the  effigies  of  the  beast,  but  the  image  which 
the  beast  adored. 

That  such  is  the  proper  interpretation  of  the  expres- 
sion will  yet  further  appear,  if  we  consider  the  context 
of  the  whole  passage.  It  was  by  false  miracles  that  the 
ecclesiastical  beast  induced  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth 
to  set  up  this  image  for  the  secular  heast.  Accordingly, 
as  we  are  informed  by  Bp.  Newton,  "  miracles  are 
thought  so  necessary  and  essential,  that  they  are  reckon- 
ed among  the  notes  of  the  catholic  church  ;  and  they 
are  alledged  principally  in  support  of  purgatory,  prayers 
for  the  dead,  the  -worship  of  saints  images  and  relics,  and 
the  like  (as  they  are  called)  catholic  doctrines."* 

The  difficulty  consists,  not  so  much  in  proving  this 
point,  as  in  selecting  some  out  of  the  many  proofs  which 
offer  themselves  to  our  attention.  "  The  first  introduc- 
tion," says  Mr.  Gibbon,  "of  a  symbolic  worship  was  in 
the  veneration  of  the  cross  and  of  relics.  The  saints 
and  martyrs,  whose  intercession  was  implored,  were  seat- 
ed on  the  right  hand  of  God  ;  but  the  gracious,  a7id 
often  supernatural  favours,  which,  in  the  popular  belief, 
were  showered  around  their  tomb,  conve//ed  an  unques- 
tionable sanction  of  the  devout  pilgrims,  who  visited,  and 
touched,  and  kissed,  these  lifeless  remains,  the  memo- 
rials of  their  merits  and  sufferings — The  scruples  of 
reason  or  piety  zoere  silenced  by  the  strong  evidence  of 
visions  and  miracles ;  and  the  pictures,  which  speak,  and 
move,  and  bleed,  must  be  endo'wed  ivith  a  divine  energy, 
and  may  be  considered  as  the  proper  objects  of  religious 
adoration — Before  the  end  of  the  sixth  century,  images, 
made  without  hands  (in  Greek  it  is  a  single  word),  were 
propagated  in  the  camps  and  cities  of  the  eastern  em- 
pire :  they  were  the  objects  of  worship  and  the  instru- 
ments of  miracles ;  and,  in  the  hour  of  danger  or  tumult, 
their  venerable  presence  could  revive  the  hope,  rekindle 

*  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  Rer.  xiii. 


161 

the  courage,  or  repress  the  fury,  of  the  Roman  legions."* 
One  of  the  grand  idols  of  the  Romanists,  as  it  is  well 
known,  is  the  Virgin  Mary.  "  They  beg  of  her,"  says 
Jurieu,  "  in  express  terms  whatever  is  desired  from  God ; 
heaven,  pardon  of  sin,  grace,  repentance,  victory  of  the 
devil.  It  is  not  enough  to  pray  to  the  virgin,  you  must 
adore  her:  every  knee  must  bow  to  her,  adoring  her  as 
sovereign  queen  of  men  and  angels.  And  this  adoration 
is  not  to  be  mere  external  adoration,  but  internal — On 
account  of  her  holiness,  men  owe  duha  to  her  ;  on 
account  of  her  maternal  relation,  they  owe  her  hifper- 
dulia ;  and,  because  she  touched  our  Saviour,  the  ado- 
ration o{  latria  is  due  to  her.  Those,  who  well  perform 
these  services,  though  never  so  negligent  of  their  duty 
towards  God,  though  villains,  robbers,  debauchees  ;  they 
cannot  be  damned,  because  they  have  been  clients  of  the 
virgin.  This  they  prove  by  innumerable  examples  of 
those,  whom  the  virgin  hath  hy  strange  juiracles  brought 
back,  as  it  were,  from  the  gates  of  hell,  because  they  had 
been  her  votaries.  And,  as  an  evidence  liozv  pleasing 
this  adoration  is  to  the  virgin^  she  hath  zaronght  more 
mirac/es  within  these  last  seven  or  eight  hundred  years, 
than  God  hath  lorought  since  the  creation^  by  Moses  and 
the  prophets^  by  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles^  atid  by 
all  the  saints  together.  Her  images  have  spoken,  they 
have  sung,  they  have  resisted  the  fire  and  the  hammer, 
they  have  soared  in  the  air  like  birds,  they  have  sn^eat 
blood,  and  oil  and  milk  have  run  from  them.     Some  of 

*  History  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  ix.  p.  114 — 120.  Mr.  Gibbon  observes,  that 
before  the  end  of  the  sixth  century  images  were  in  very  general  use.  This  may  be 
thought  to  contradict  what  I  have  said  relative  to  the  proper  date  of  the  great  Apoi- 
tacy.  I  then  however  observed,  and  I  may  here  observe  again,  that  superstition  had 
for  some  time  been  gradually  creeping  into  the  Church  previous  to  the  years  COG  and 
607  ;  but  it  is  necessary  to  date  a  prophetic  series  of  years  from  a  fixed  and  deter- 
Hiinate  era  when  some  overt  act  has  been  committed.  This  oVert  act  is  declared  by 
the  prophet  to  be  the  establishment  of  the  Pope's  supremacy,  Or  the  deli'ueriiig  up  of  the 
saints  into  his  hdii-^.  Now  It  is  observable,  that,  whatever  approaches  there  might  be 
to  image-worship  in  the  course  of  the  sixth  century,  idolatry  was  not  openly  estnLlished 
hy  the  authority  of  the  Roman  pontiff  \\Vi  the  year  607  ;  the  very  year  after  that  in  which 
the  saints  had  been  delivered  into  the  hand  of  the  little  horn,  and  consequently  from 
which  the  \2G0 years  &re  to  be  dated.  Accordingly  Mr.  Gibbon  very  truly  observes 
respecting  the  period  of  whicll-  he  is  speaking,  "  as  the  tcorship  of  images  had  never  been 
established  by  a:iy  general  or  positive  lazu,  its  progress  in  the  Eastern  empire  had  been 
retarded  or  accelerated,  by  the  difFerencts  of  men  and  manners,  the  local  degrees  of 
refinement,  and  the  personal  characters  of  the  bishops."'    Ibid.  p.  1 22. 

VOL.    il.  91 


162 

them  have  been  turned  into  flesh  ;  they  have  wept^  lamented^ 
groaned ;  tliey  have  made  the  lame  to  walk^  the  blind  to 
see,  the  deaf  to  hear.    They  have  cured  all  kinds  of  diseases^ 
mid  zorouoht  all  sorts  oj prodigies.       For  these  reasons, 
people  will  go  to  the  end  oJ'  the  world  to  visit  these  conse^ 
crated  images.     They  kiss,*  fall  down  before  them,  and 
render  them  an  external  worship,   accompanied   with  a 
most  fervent  internal  devotion.     They  rub  their  chaplets 
or    beads,  and  their  handkerchiefs,  upon  these  images  ; 
and  wear  about  them  these  chaplets  and  cloths,  which 
have  touched  the  images  of  the  virgin  ;  and  believe,  that 
they  are  relics  which  have  a  virtue  to  preserve  from  all 
evils.     That,  which  we  have  discoursed  concerning  the 
V^irgin,  may  be  applied  to  saints  proportionably.     There 
is  no  folly  or  extravagance  that  we  have  now  related,  but 
every  order  of  monks  say  such  like  of  their  founder  and 
author  :  the  Cordeliers  and  Capuchins,  of  their  St.  Fran- 
cis ;  the  Jacopins,  of  their  St.  Dominic  ;  and,  in  general 
of  all  the  pretended  saints  of  their  orders,  they  are  more 
holy  than  seraphim  ;  they  raise  the  dead ;  theif   heal  all 
diseases  ;  the  whole  creation  is  subject  to  them.^'^      An- 
other of  the  Popish  idols  is  the  consecrated  wafer  or  sa- 
cramental bread,  the  worship  of  which  naturally  followed 
the  monstrous  doctrine  o{  transubstantiation.     This  like- 
wise hath  been  honoured  by  its  own  proper  miracles.    A 
saint,    named  Malachy,    was  employed  by  the  Pope  to 
convert  the  Irish  to  the  discipline  and  canons  o^  the  church 

*  "  Yet  I  have  left  me  seven  thousand  in  Israel,  all  the  knees  which  have  not 
bowed  unto  Baal,  and  every  mouth  which  hath  not  lissed  hxm."  (1  Kings  xix.  18.) 
"  And  nov/  they  sin  more  and  more,  and  have  made  them  molten  images  of  their 
silver,  and  idols  according  to  their  own  understanding,  all  of  it  the  work  of  the  crafts- 
men :  they  say  of  them,  let  the  men  that  sacrifice  kiss  the  calves  :"  tliat  is  the  statues 
of  Moloch  and  Baal.  (Hos.  xiii.  2.)  The  excuse,  which  Papists  are  wont  to  make 
for  their  idolatry,  effectually  proves  them  to  te  idolaters.  They  deny  that  they 
■worship  the  images  ;  asserting,  that  they  only  Hiss  them,  and  boiv  doivn  before  them, 
in  token  (as  the  council  of  Trent  expresses  it)  of  their  "  ivorshipping  the  saints,  whose 
likeness  images  do  bear."  What  is  this  but  explicitly  acknowledging,  that  they 
tuorship  dead  men  through  the  medium  of  certain  fanciful  representations  of  them  .^ 
So  perfectly  does  the  idolatry  of  the  revived  pupal  beast  resemble  the  idolatry  of  the 
old  pagan  beast  that  was  wounded  to  death  by  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  that  the  an- 
cient heathens  gave  precisely  the  same  reason  for  ivorshipping  their  images,  that  the 
modern  Papists  do  for  ivorshipping  theirs.  Their  language  was,  as  we  learn  from  Ar- 
nobius,  "  Not  that  brass,  gold,  silver,  and  the  like  materials  of  statues  are  gods ;  bu' 
that  through  them  the  invisible  gods  are  honoured  and  worshipped," 

t  Cited  by  Wkitaker,  p.  341, 


163 

4>f  Rome ;  and,  in  order  to  further  this  laudable  under- 
taking,  he  received,  say  the  Papists,  the  pozver  of  work- 
ing miracles  in  as  eminent  u  degree  as  anij  of  the  ancient 
saints  of  the  church.    One  of  these  miracles  was  the  pun- 
ishment by  sudden  death  of  a  man,  whom  the  saint  could 
not  convince  oi  the  real  presence  in  the  sacrament.^    A  yet 
more  stupendous  proof  of  the  truth  of  this  doctrine  was 
vouchsafed  to  the  foundress  of  the  reformation  of  the  dis- 
calced  Carmelites  in  tlie  sixteenth  centurij.    In  one  of  her 
works,  called  The  zcaij  of  perfection^  "  she  declares  that  our 
Lord  was,  many  times,  pleased  to  let  her  see  him  in  the 
sacred  host.     In  particular,  going  one  day  to  receive  the 
blessed  sacrament,  she  saw  him  in  great  majesty,  in  the 
hands  of  the  priest,   in   the  host   which  he  was  going  to 
administer  to  her.     At  the  same  time  she  understood  by 
a  vision,  that  this  same  priest  was  in  a  state  of  sin,  which 
troubled  her  exceedingly.     But,  says  she,  our  Lord  hnii- 
elf  said  unto  me,  that   1  should  pray  for  him  ;  and  told 
me,  that  he  had  suffered  what  I  had  seen,  that  I  might 
understand  what  power  and  force  the  words  of  consecra- 
tion have  ;  and  that  God  would  not  be  kept  from  thence, 
how   wicked  soever   the  priest  were  who  pronounced 
them.^'j*     For  these  enormous  lies  this  woman  was  saint- 
ed.— In  fine,  the   worship   of  images  which  began  very 
early  to  infect  the  church,  and  which  was  first  openly 
established  by  Boniface  the  fourth  in  the  year  607,  vvas 
ultimately  confirmed  by   the  second  council  of  Nice,  in 
'  the  year  1%7 .      The   decrees   of  this  council,   which  is 
justly  called  by  Mr.  INlede  the  idolatrous  council^  contain 
some  curious  narratives,  full  of  fabulous  invention,  adapt- 
ed to  the  promotion  of  image-worship,  the  purpose  for 
which   this    misnamed    theopneust    assembly    m.et    to- 
gether.^ 

As  for  the  manner  in  which  they  that  dwelt  upon  the 
earth  were  induced  by  the  tzi'O- horned  beast  to  espouse 
the  cause  of  image-worship,  it  has  already  been  shewn 
in  part  by  the  preceding  account  of  Popish  miracles 
wrought  for  that  express  purpose,  and  will  yet  further 
appear  from  the   famous   contest  between    Gregory  the 

*  Whitaker's  Comment,  p.  39;5.  f  Ibid.  p.  239. 

\  Zouch  Of!  the  Prophecies,  p.  215,  210'. 


164. 

second  and  the  Emperor  Leo  respecting  the  worship  of 
bodily  representations  of  onr  Lord,  his  saints,  and  mar- 
tyrs. Tiie  Emperor  had  suppressed  idolatry  at  Constan- 
tinople and  in  the  East,  and  attempted  to  do  the  same 
in  his  Italian  dominions.  Upon  this,  Gregory  informs 
him,  that  he  exceeds  his  proper  commission  by  interfer- 
ini^  in  spiritual  matters  ;  and  teaches  him,  that,  although 
the  sword  of  justice  is  in  the  hands  of  the  magistrate,  the 
more  formidable  weapon  of  excommunication  is  intrusted 
to  the  clergy,  who  will  not  spare  a  heretic  even  though 
he  be  seated  upon  a  throne. — "  You  accuse  the  catho- 
lirs  of  idolatry,"  says  he  in  one  of  his  epistles  to  Leo^ 
"  and  by  the  accusation  you  betray  your  own  impiety 
and  ignorance."  He  then  proceeds  to  point  out  to  the 
iindi*cernii)g  Emperor  the  ingenious  Popish  distinction 
between  pagan  idols  and  Christian  images.  "  The  for- 
mer were  the  fanciful  representations  of  phantoms  or  de- 
mons, at  a  time  when  the  true  God  had  not  manifested 
his  person  in  any  visible  likeness.  The  latter  are  the 
genuine  forms  of  Christ,  his  mother,  and  his  saints,  who 
had  approved^  by  a  crowd  of  rairacles^  the  innocence  and 
merii  of  this  reiaiive  zvorship."  Ihe  difference  indeed 
between  idols  and  images^  hard  as  it  is  to  be  compre- 
hended by  the  less  subtle  intellect  of  a  heretic,  is,  accord- 
ing to  Gregory  so  clear,  that  the  very  children  would  be 
provoked  to  cast  their  horn-books  at  the  head  of  the  im- 
perial enemy  of  so  catholic  a  mode  of  adoration.  "  You 
assault  us,  O  tyrant,  with  a  carnal  and  military  hand — 
You  declare,  with  foolish  arrogance,  1  will  dispatch  my 
orders  to  Home ;  I  will  break  in  pieces  the  image  of  St. 
Peter — Are  yuii  ignorant,  that  tJie  Popes  are  the  bond 
of  union,  the  mediators  of  peace,  between  the  East  and 
the  West  ?  The  eyes  of  the  nations  are  fixed  on  our  hu- 
mility :  and  they  revere,  as  a  god  upon  earth,  the  Apos- 
tle St.  Peter,  whose  image  you  threaten  to  destroy. 
The  remote  and  interior  kingdoms  of  the  West  present 
their  homage  to  Christ  and  his  vicegerent ;  and  we  now 
prepare  to  visit  one  of  their  most  powerful  monarchs, 
who  desires  to  receive  from  our  hands  the  sacrament  of 
baptism.  The  barbarians  have  submitted  to  the  yoke 
of  the  Gospel,  while  you  alone  are  deaf  to  the  voice  of 


165 

the  shepherd.      These  pious  barbarians  are  kindled  into 
rage  :  they  thirst  to  avenge  the  persecution  of  the  East. 
Abandon  your  rash  and  fatal  enterprize  ;  reflect,  tremble, 
and  repent.     If  you  persist,  we  are  innocent  of  the  blood 
that  will  be  spilt  in  the  contest:  may  it  fall  on  your  own 
head."     The  truth  of  this  declaration  the  Emperor  soon 
experienced   to   his   cost.      "  1  he   first   assault  of  Leo 
against  the  images  of  Constantinople  had  been  witnessed 
by  a  crowd  of  strangers   from  Italy   and  the  West,  who 
related  with  grief  and   indignation    the  sacrilege  of  the 
Emperor.    But,  on  the  reception  of  his  proscriptive  edict, 
they  trembled  for  their  domestic  deities.     The  images  of 
Christ  and  the  Virgin,  of  the  angels,  martyrs,  and  saints, 
•were  abolished  in  all  the  churches  of  Italy  ;  andastn/Ug 
alternative  was  proposed  to  the  Roman  FontiJf\  the  royal 
favour  as   the   price  of  his   compliance,  degradation  and 
exile  as  the  penalty  of  his   disobedience.     Neither  zeal 
nor  policy  allowed  him  to  hesitate.    Without  depending 
on  prayers  or  miracles,  he  boldly  armed  against  the  public 
enemy  ;  and  his  pastoral  letters  admonished  the  Italians 
of  their  danger  and  their  duty.     At  this  signal,  Ravenna, 
Venice,   and  the  cities  of  the  Exarchate  and  Fentapolis, 
adhered  to  the  cause  of  religion  ;  their  military  force  by 
sea  and  land  consisted,  for  the  most  part,  of  the  natives  ; 
and  the  spirit  of  patriotism  and  zeal  was  transfused  into 
the  mercenary  strangers.     The  Italians  swore  to  live  and 
die  in  the  defence  o^  the  Pope  and  the  hoi//  images;  the 
Roman   people  were  devoted  to  their  father ;  and  even 
the  Lombards  were  ambitious  to  share  the  merit  and  ad- 
vantage of  this   holy  war."     The   issue  of  the   struggle 
was  the  ruin  of  the  Emperor^s  affairs  in  Italy,  and   the 
complete  triumph  of  the  catholic  idolaters.     Nor  was  a 
miracle  wanting,  in  this  grand  contest,   to  decide  the  or- 
thodoxy of  image-worship.     To  restore  his  dominion  in 
Italy,  Leo  invaded   the  Exarchate,  and  prepared  to  lay 
siege  to   Ravenna.     Upon    this   occasion,  "the  women 
and  clergy,  in  sackcloth  and  ashes,  lay  prostrate  in  pray- 
er ;  the  men  were  in  arms  for  the  defence  of  their  coun- 
try ;  and  the  event  of  a  battle  was  preferred  to  the  slow 
miseries  of  a  siege,     in   a  hard  fought  day,  as  the  two 
armies  alternately  yielded  and  advanced,  a  phantom  x<Das 


166 


seen^  a  voice  was  lieard^  and  Ravenna  was  victorious  by 
the  assurance  of  victory.  The  strangers  retreated  to 
their  sliips,  but  the  populous  sea-coast  poured  forth  a 
muhitude  of  boats  ;  the  waters  of  the  Po  were  so  deeply 
infected  with  blood,  that  during  six  years  the  public  pre- 
judice abstained  from  the  fish  of  the  river  ;  and  the  in- 
stitution of  an  annual  feast  perpetuated  the  worship  of 
images,  and  the  abhorrence  of  the  Cilreek  tyrant.  Amidst 
the  triumph  of  the  catholic  arms,  the  Roman  Pout ijj' con- 
vened a  synod  of  ninety  three  bishops  against  the  heresy 
of  the  Iconoclasts  ;  and  with  their  consent  pronounced 
a  general  excommunication  against  all,  who  by  word  or 
deed  should  attack  the  tradition  of  the  fathers  and  the 
images  of  the  saints."* 

It  is  further  said,  that  the  second  beast  had  power  to 
give  life  to  the  image,  so  that  the  image  should  speak, 
and  cause  the  death  of  those  who  refused  to  worship  it. 
We  have  already  noticed  some  marvellous  instances  of 
the  speaking  and  moving  statues  of  the  Virgin  ;  and  I 
doubt  not  but  that  they  did  appear  to  the  deluded  popu- 
lace both  to  speak  and  to  move.  The  prophecy  teaches 
us,  that  it  was  the  ecclesiastical  beast  that  enabled  them 
to  perform  these  functions  of  rational  and  animal  life  ;  and 
the  event  has  abundantly  proved  the  truth  of  the  pre- 
diction. The  ridiculous  puppets,  which  were  held  forth 
as  gods  to  the  blind  adoration  of  the  secular  beast,  were 
so  contrived  with  internal  springs  as  to  be  easily  worked 
by  a  concealed  operator  ;  whose  voice  at  proper  intervals 
seemed  to  issue  from  the  mouth  of  the  miraculous  im- 
age.•!•  At  the  Reformation,  nothing  tended  so  much  to 
wean  the  people  from  their  attachment  to  idolatrous  su- 
perstition as  the  public  exposure  of  these  contemptible 
tricks  of  the  Popish  ecclesiastics.  "  For  their  images," 
says  Bp.  Burnet,  "  some  of  them  were  brought  to  Lon- 
don, and  were  there  at  St.  Paul's  cross,  in  the  sight  of 
the  people,  broken  ;  that  they  might  be  fully  convinced 


*  Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  ix.  p.  112 — 141. 

•)•  I  strongly  suspect,  that  the  inimitable  Cervantes  had  some  such  images  as  these 
jn  his  e_ye,  when  he  wrote  his  account  oi  the  ivondcrful  incbantdd bead.  Be  this  as  it 
may,  nothing  can  airord  a  better  explanation  of  the  talking  images  of  the  Papist-^, 
See  Don  Quixote,  Part  II.  chap.  62. 


167 

of  the  juggling  impostures  of  the  monks:  and,  in  partic- 
ular, the  crucifix  of  Boxley  in  Kent,  commonly  called 
ike  Rood  of  grace  ;  to  which  many  pilgrimages  had  been 
made,  because  it  was  observed  sometimes  to  bow,  and  to 
lift  itself  up,  to  shake,  and  to  stir  head,  hands,  and  feet, 
and  to  roll  the  eyes,  move  the  lips,  and  to  bend  the  brows: 
all  which  were  looked  on  by  the  abused  multitude  as  the 
effects  of  a  divine  power.*  These  were  now  publicly 
discovered  to  have  been  cheats  :  for  the  springs  were 
shewed,  by  which  all  these  motions  were  made.  Lpoti 
which  John  Hilsey,  then  Bishop  of  Rochester,  made  a 
sermon,  and  broke  the  rood  in  pieces.  There  was  also 
another  famous  imposture  discovered  at  Hales  in  Glouces- 
tershire, where  the  blood  of  Christ  was  shewed  in  a  vial 
of  crystal,  which  the  people  sometimes  saw,  but  some- 
times they  could  not  see  it :  so  that  they  were  made  be- 
lieve, that  they  were  not  capable  of  so  signal  a  favour,  as 
long  as  they  were  in  mortal  sin  ;  and  so  continued  to 
make  presents,  till  they  had  bribed  heaven  to  give  them 
a  sight  of  so  blessed  a  relic.  This  was  now  discovered  to 
be  the  blood  of  a  duck,  which  they  renewed  every  week  : 
and  the  one  side  of  the  vial  was  so  thick,  that  there  was 
no  seeing  through  it ;  but  the  other  was  clear  and  trans- 
parent :  and  it  was  so  placed  near  the  altar  that  one  in  a 
secret  place  behind  could  turn  either  side  of  it  outward. 
So  that,  when  they  had  drained  the  pilgrims  that  came 
thither  of  all  they  had  brought  with  them,  then  they  af- 
forded them  the  favour  of  turning  the  clear  side  outward  ; 
■who  upon  that  went  home  very  well  satisfied  with  their 
journey,  and  the  expence  they  had  been  at.^'* 

To  these  idols,  thus  impiously  set  up  to  be  the  gods  of 
the  Christian  church,  it  may  probably  be  said  with  truth, 
that  no  fewer  human  victims  have  been  immolated  than 
to  the  demons  of  Paganism.  One  special  mark  of  heresy 
was  a  refusal  to  worship  images  ;  and  that  refusal,    like 

*  Similar  vile  mummeries  have  actually  been  exhibited  even  in  the  present  gen- 
eration, when  one  might  have  thought  that  well-deserved  ridicule,  if  not  religious 
principle,  would  have  effectually  put  an  end  to  them.  In  tie  yc.ir  1796  various  mi- 
raculous appearances  are  asserted  to  have  been  observed  at  Rome  :  picturc-s  of  ma- 
donnas opened  and  shut  their  eyes  ;  images  of  saints  altered  tlieir  position  ;  and 
crucifixes  moved  their  eyelids  I  Zouch  on  Prophecy,  p.  180. 

f  Hist,  of  Reform,  Vol.  1.  p.  243,  cited  by  Whitaker  and  Zouch. 


168 

the  similar  refusal  of  the  primitive  Christians  to  adore  the 
idols  of  the  Gentiles,  never  failed  to  subject  the  mai  tyrs 
under  Popenj^  those  second  men  of  understanding  men- 
tioned by  DanieU*  to  the  horrors  of  the  most  dreadful  of 
deaths. "f  While  every  impurity  and  abomination  both  in 
practice  and  doctrine  was  tolerated  and  sanctioned  by 
the  udidteroiis  church  of  Rome  ;  those  holy  and  godly 
men,  whose  sole  crime  was  a  determined  rejection  of  the 
poisoned  cup  oi  the  mifstlc  harlot^  were  inhumanly  per- 
secuted and  tormented.  "  Blessed  however  are  the  dead 
Avhi('h  die  in  the  Lord,  for  they  rest  from  their  labours, 
and  their  works  do  follow  them." 

In  this  interpretation  oi  the  image  T  have  followed  Dr. 
Zouch,  infinitely  preferring  it  to  that  proposed  by  Bp. 
Newton.  His  Lordship,  from  an  idea  that  this  image 
was  to  be  some  power  which  should  be  a  sort  of  repre- 
sentation or  effigies  of  the  wounded  imperial  head  of  the 
secular  beast^  endeavours  to  prove  that  it  is  the  Pope  ; 
who,  says  he,  "  is  the  most  perfect  likeness  and  resem- 
blance of  the  ancient  Roman  Emperors."  Now,  what- 
ever degree  of  similarity  there  may  be  between  the  Em- 
perors and  the  Popes,  1  can  find  no  warrant  in  the  plain 
letter  of  the  text  tor  such  an  exposition  of  the  prophecy 
relative  to  the  image.  As  I  have  already  observed,  the 
making  an  image  to  or  for  that  beast  whose  head  was 
wounded  with  the  sword  (a  periphrastic  mode  of  point- 
ing out  the  secular  beast,  in  order  that  we  may  certainly 
know  irhat  beast  is  here  intended  by  the  Apostle)  can 
scarcely  mean  the  setting  up  a  representation  o/the  beast. 
And,  that  such  is  not  the  meaning  of  the  passage,  will,  I 
think,  undeniably  appear,  if  we  consider  the  strange  con- 
fusion which  this  interpretation  if  admitted  must  neces- 
sarily introduce.  Bp.  Newton  supposes,  that  the  last 
head  of  the  secular  beast  is  the  Pope,  and  that  the  fxvo- 
horned  beast  is  the  Romish  hierarchy.  If  then  the  two- 
horned  beast  be  the  Romish  hitrarchi/,  the  head  of  that 
^e«6^^  must  undoubtedly  be  the  Pope;  for  the  Romish 

*  Dan.  xi.  "J. 
f  Sec  Ep.  Newton'i  account  of  tic  IVifnesses.    One  of  the  crimes,  for  vvliicJi  those- 
convicted  of  hercy  were  condemned,  is  almost  invariably  areftisal  to  pray  to  dca# 
saints,  angels,  and  their  images. 


169 

hierarchy  has  no  other  head  except  the  Pope.  In  thig^ 
case  therefore,  the  head  of  the  first  beast ,  and  the  head 
of  the  second  beast^  will  both  equally  be  the  Pope  :  and 
yet,  according  to  the  Bishop's  scheme,  the  image  is  the; 
Pope  likewise  :  consequently  the  image  of  the  beast  is  at 
once  the  same  as  the  head  of  the  ecclesiastical  beast^  and 
as  the  secular  beast  under  its  last  heud^  for  St.  John  iden- 
tifies the  last  head  with  the  whole  secular  beast.  His  Lord- 
ship himself  indeed  does  not  make  this  assertiorf  totidem 
verbis.,  though  he  assuredly  makes  it  in  fact  ;  but  Mr. 
Mede,  whose  scheme  is  the  same,  expresslij  and  unre- 
servedly maintains  the  identity  of  the  image  and  o^  the 
secular  beast  under  his  last  head."*  To  confute  this  opin- 
ion, it  seems  to  me  to  be  only  necessary,  that  any  un- 
prejudiced person  should  attentively  read  those  passages 
of  the  Apocalypse,  in  which  the  two  beasts  and  the  image 
of  the  first  beast  are  mentioned  together  ;  for  such  a  per- 
son must,  I  apprehend,  be  convinced,  that,  whatever  they 
may  be  designed  to  symbolize,  tlie  heads  of  the  two  beasts 
and  the  image  cannot  «//  symbolize  the  same  thing.  The 
expression  the  beast  and  his  image.,  which  perpetually 
occurs  in  the  Apocalypse,-]*  obviously  implies,  that  the 
beast  is  one  thing.,-AV\d  that  the  image\sanother.  To  suppose 
otherwise  makes  the  prophet  use  a  most  singular  kind 
of  tautology:  for,  \{  the  first  beast  and  his  image  be  the 
same.,  both  equally  symbolizing  the  Pope.,  then  the  ex- 
pression the  beast  and  his  image  is  precisely  equivalent 
to  the  Pope  and  the  Pope.  So  again  :  the  two  beasts  and 
the  image  are  all  described  at  large  in  one  chapter  ;  and 
the  second  beast  is  plainly  distinguished  from  the  firsts 
both  by  the  general  tenor  of  the  description,  and  by  its 
being  styled  another  beast  :  can  we  then  reasonably  sup- 
pose, that  these  two  different  beasts  have  a  head  in  common, 
and  that  that  head  is  the  very  same  as  a  certain  image 
which  the  second  beast  causes  to  be  made  to  the  first  beast. 
Nay  more  :  the  first  beast.,  his  image.,  and  tlie  second  beast 
under  the  name  o\the  false  prophet.,  are  ail  mentioned 
together  in  a  single  verse.     "  And  the  beast  was  taken, 

*  "  Bestia   Romana   capitis    novissimi  est  imago  bestiaj  sexto  capite  mactatK-" 
Comment.  Apoc.  in  best,  bicorn. 

f  Sec  Rev,  xiv.  9,  I],  xvi.  '2.  xix.  20. 

"VOL.   II.  ^2'2 


170 

and  with  him  the  false  prophet  that  wrought  miracles 
before  him,  with  which  he  deceived  them  that  had  re- 
ceived the  mark  of  the  beast,  and  them  that  worshipped 
his  image.  These  both  were  cast  ahve  into  a  lake  of 
fire  burning  with  brimstone."*  Can  any  one  from  this 
passage  reasonably  infer,  that  the  least  under  his  last  head 
is  the  same  as  his  image,  and  that  both  are  the  same  as 
the  head  of  the  second  beast  or  the  false  prophet  /  It  is 
worthy  of  notice,  that,  although  St.  John  here  makes 
joint  mention  of  the  tiao  beasts  and  the  image,  he  only 
states,  that  these  both  (in  the  original  it  is  these  two)  were 
cast  into  the  lake  of  fire.  Hence  we  may  infer,  both  that 
the  image  was  not  cast  into  the  fiery  lake  ;  and  that  the 
two  beasts  are  really  tisDO  distinct  beasts,  not  t~wo  (as  the 
scheme  of  Bp.  Newton  necessarily  supposes)  subsisting 
under  common  a  head.  Let  us  then  only  adopt  the  mode 
of  interpretation  which  1  have  been  endeavouring  to  es- 
tablish, and  we  shall  immediately  perceive  the  exact  pro- 
priety of  the  language  here  used  by  the  prophet.  The 
secular  beast  under  his  last  or  patricio-imperial  head 
(whatever  family  may  be  the  representative  of  this  head 
at  that  time),  the  great  supporter  of  the  abominations  of 
Popery  and  the  cruel  persecutor  of  the  saints ;  and  the 
ecclesiastical  beast  under  his  spiritual  head  the  Pope,  the 
deceiver  of  the  whole  earth  and  the  diabolical  promoter 
of  the  first  beast's  persecutions  :  these  two  main  enemies 
of  the  Messiah  are  taken  in  open  rebellion  against  his  au- 
thority, and  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire.  ^nX,  the  image, 
which  was  a  mere  senseless  tool  of  monastic  imposture, 
and  therefore  incapable  of  punishment,  is  neither  said  to 
be  engaged  in  this  rebellion,  nor  to  incur  the  divine  ven- 
geance, like  its  contrivers  and  worshippers.^ 


*  Rev.  xix.  20. 

f  Mr.  WHiitaker's  sentiments  respecting  the  image  of  the  beast  are  nearly  the  same 
as  those  of  Mr.  JVIede  and  Bp.  Newton.  He  supposes  the  image  to  mean  the  Papal 
authority  and  empire  actuall\<  eslub'ished over  the  ivorlJ  by  the  instrumentality  of  the  mo- 
nastic orders.  Every  objection,  that  has  been  made  to  the  scheme  of  Mr.  Mede  and 
the  Bishop,  applies  with  equal  force  to  that  of  Mr.  Whitaker.  Sir  Isaac  Newton 
thinks  that  the  making  an  image  to  the  beast  means  Oniv  the  assembling  a  body  of  men,  or 
the  calling  a  council  of  men,  like  the  beast  in  point  of  religion.  This  opinion  seems  to  me 
to  accord  very  ill  with  the  simple  language  of  St.  John.  I  cannot  but  think  indeed, 
that  the  whole  of  Sir  Isaac's  explanation  of  this  prophecy  is  radically  erroneous. 
His  ide.i,  that  the  second  apocahptic  beast  is  the  Creek  church  entirely  violates  the  order 


171 

There  have  beeu  other  opinions  respecting  the  image 
besides  this  of  Bp.  Newton.  Some  have  supposed  it  to 
be  the  Carlovingian  empire,,  the  express  image  o^  the  old 
Roman  empire.  But  the  Carlovingian  empire  is  the  Ro- 
man empire  under  its  last  head,  and  therefore  cannot 
be  the  image,  which  is  represented  as  something  quite 
distinct  from  the  beast.  Moreover  the  making  an  image 
to  or  for  the  beast  cannot  mean  the  making  a  representa- 
tion of  him.  Others  again  have  fancied,  that  the  image  is 
the  inquisition.  This  opinion  however  is  as  little  tenable 
as  the  former.  The  inquisition  is  neither  a  graven  image^ 
if  the  passage  be  interpreted  in  this  sense,  as  I  think  it 
must;  nor  will  it  be  an  easy  matter  to  discover  any  re- 
semblance between  that  iniquitous  court  and  the  Roman 
Cesars,  if  the  passage  be  interpreted  in  the  manner  pro- 
posed by  Bp.  Newton.*  In  short,  every  exposition  of  the 
prophecy  relative  to  the  image,  excepting  that  which  I 
have  here  adopted  from  Dr.  Zouch,  appears  to  me  to  be 
clogged  with  far  too  many  difficulties  to  be  admissible. 

8.  lie  caused  ail,  both  small  and  great,  rich  and  poor, 
free  and  bond,  to  receive  a  mark  in  their  right  lumd,  or 
m  their  foreheads  :  and  that  no  man  might  butj  or  sell, 
save  he  that  had  the  murk  or  the  name  of  the  (secular) 
beast,  or  the  number  of  his  name.  Here  is  zaisdom.  Let 
him  that  hath  understanding  count  the  number  of  the  beast  : 
for  it  is  the  number  of  a  man ;  and  his  number  is  (j66— 
We  have  found,  that  in  every  particular  hitherto  consid- 
ered the  character  oi  the  second  apocalijptic  beast  perfectly 
accords  with  that  of  the  catholic  church  of  Rome,  the  spir- 
itual empire  regular  and  secular,  of  which  the  Pope  is 
the  head.  Two  points  yet  remain  to  be  investigated  :  1 
mean  the  peculiar  name  and  the  peculiar  mark  of  the  frst 
beast,  which  the  second  beast  required  the  whole  Ro- 
man world  to  bear  as  a  badge  of  ecclesiastical  communion. 

In  order  that  this  enquiry  may  be  satisfactorily  prose- 
cuted, the  sound  rule,  which  I  have  hitherto  endeavour- 
ed to  observe,  must  in  the  present  case  also  be  steadily 
attended  to.     No  name,  though  it  may  possibly  compre- 

and  regularity  of  the  prediction  :  for  the  little  Look  treats  entirely  of  the  affairs  of  ths 
West.     See  Observ.  on  the  Apocalypse,  Chap.  ;i.  and  Addenda  to  Observ. 
*  See  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  Rev.  xiii. 


172 

liend  the  number  666,  can  be  the  name  of  the  beast,  un- 
less it  equally  answers  in  all  other  particulars,  to  the 
prophetic  description  of  that  name. 

From  the  description  itself  we  learn,  that  four  things 
must  concur  in  the  mysterious  name  of  which  we  are  in 
quest  :  1.  it  must  be  the  name  oi  the  Empire  symboliz- 
ed by  the  ten-horned  beast ;  2.  it  must  be  the  name  of 
some  individual  man  ;*  3.  it  must  be  a  name,  borne,  along 
with  some  superstitious  badge  or  mark^  by  every  member 
o{  the  beasf^  as  a  test  of  spiritual  communion  with  his 
colleague  the  second  beast,  and  under  pain  of  a  severe 
ecclesiastical  interdict ;  4.  and  it  must  be  a  name,  which 
comprehends  in  its  numerical  letters  the  precise  sum  0^666* 

Various  names  have  been  pitched  upon  as  this  name 
of  the  beast ;  but,  before  we  adopt  any  of  them,  we  must 
enquire  whether  they  will  accurately  correspond  with  St. 
John's  description  of  it.  Two  of  the  papal  titles,  Vicarius 
Filii  Dei,  and  Vicarius  Dei  genera/is  in  terris,  have  each 
been  found  to  comprehend  the  number  666  :  but  yet 
neither  of  them  can  be  the  name  intended  by  the  Apostle  ; 
because  neither  of  them  is  the  name  of  the  temporal  beast^ 
neither  of  them  is  the  proper  name  of  a  man,  and  neither 
of  them  can  obviously  be  borne  by  each  individual  Papist, 
The  Hebrew  word  Romiith,  or  the  Roman  beast,  has  like- 
wise been  found  to  contain  the  same  number  666  if  but 
yet  this  can  as  little  be  the  apo'califptic  name  of  the  beast 
as  either  of  the  others  ;  for,  although  every  Papist  delighta 
to  term  himself  a  Roman-catholic,  yet  Romiith  is  cer- 
tainly not  the  name  of  anv  ?nan.t 

*  Bp.  Newton  supposes  tbe  numher  of  a  man  to  mean  nothing  more  than  a  method  of 
numbering  practised  among  men.  I  prefer  the  interpretation  here  adopted,  both  as  being 
the  most  obvious  meaning  of  the  expression,  and  as  suiting  better  to  the  designed 
obscurity  of  an  enigma.  Since  the  number  of  the  beast  is  the  number  of  the  name  of  the 
beast,  it  seems  most  natural  to  conclude,  that  the  number  of  a  man  is  the  number  of  ilu 
name  of  a  man  :  and,  siriCC  these  ttro  utitnhers  are  the  same,  the  livo  names  which  contaui 
them,  that  if  the  least  and  that  of  the  man,  must  be  tie  same  likeiuisc. 

f    T 200 

1 6 

?3 10 

-     •         10 

'     10 

n -100 

\  Mr.  Lowman  supposes,  that  tic  number  GOG  i*  the  number  of  years  to  be  com- 
puted from  the  time  when  St.  John  saw  this  vision  tothe  complete  establishment  ot 


173 

I  conceive  then,  that  the  apostle  designed  to  intimate 
in  this  confessedly  didicnlt  passa£»e,  that  we  should  seek 
out  some  name^  which  should  at  once  be  the  name  of  an 
einpire^  the  name  of  its  supposed  founder^  and  the  name  of 
everij  individual  in  that  empire.  This  identity  of  appel- 
lation is  very  frequently  found  to  occur,  particularly  in  the 
early  ages  of  the  world:  thus  Ashurh  equally  the  name 
of  Assyria^  Oti  the  father  of  the  Assifrians^  and  of  everu 
individual  Assijrian ;  thus  also  Misraim  is  equally  the 
name  of  Egypt,  oi the  father  of  the  Egyptians,  and  of  eu- 
erij  individual Egi/pfian  ;  and  thus,  to  descend  to  modern 
times,  Ottoman  or  Othwan  is  equally  the  name  of  the 
Turkish  empire,  of  its  founder,  and  of  everu  individual 
Turk.  Now,  had  the  prophet  said  nothing  tnore  than 
this  respecting  the  name  of  the  beast,  we  might  for  ever 
have  wearied  ourselves  with  endeavorinar  to  discover  it ; 
because  numerous  indeed  are  the  names,  which,  like 

fie  Papacy  as  a  temporal poiver  about  the  year  756,  at  which  time  he  conceives  It  te 
have  become  the  beast  of  the  sea  wider  lis  last  Lead.  Respecting  this  opinion  it  V'iH 
be  sufficient  to  observe,  that,  even  \i  the  Papacy  were  the  beast  of  the  sea  vhich  to  me 
seems  utterly  impossible,  it  would  still  be  altogether  irreconcileable  with  the  plain 
language  of  the.  prophecy.  None  were  either  to  buy  or  sell  but  those  that  bore 
the  name  of  the  beast,  and  together  wth  it  the  number  of  his  name  ;  a  number  moreover, 
that  is  the  number  of  a  man.  How  is  all  this  fulfilled,  if  GQG  be  merely  a  term  of  years  ? 
How  can  a  term  of  years  be  the  number  if  the  beast'' s  name  ?  How  can  it  be  shewn,  that 
none  were  allowed  to  buy  or  sell  except  those  that  bore  this  term  of  years  as  in- 
cluded in  the  name  of  the  beast  ? 

Tiiere  is  a  most  curious  treatise  bv  Mr.  Potter  on  the  number  G6<5  ;  in  which  he 
goes  on  the  principle  of  extracting  the  square  root,  and  of  applying  it  when  so  ex- 
tracted to  a  wonderful  varietv  of  matters  connected  with  Popery.  He  supposes  in- 
deed the  ten-horned  beast  to  be  the  Papacy  ;  but  his  system,  if  it  be  tenable,  will  apply 
with  nearly  equal  force  to  the  secular  papal  Roman  empire.  I  can  promise  the  reader 
entertainment  of  a  verv  singular  nature  from  this  work ;  though,  like  myself,  be 
may  possibly  rise  from  the  perusal  of  it  unconvinced.  It  is  one  of  the  most  inge- 
nious productions  tliat  I  ever  met  with  ;  but  it  strikes  me  nevertheless  as  being  too 
elaborate  and  far-fetched,  independent  of  various  objections  that  might  be  urged 
against  it.  1  think  it  right  to  mention,  that  Mr.  Potter  will  not  allow  the  number  to 
be  the  number  of  a  name,  and  that  he  thence  denies  the  propriety  of  discovering  it  by 
numerical  letters  in  the  name  Latinus  or  in  otiier  similar  names.  In  tliis  point  he 
is  certainly  mistaken  ;  for  St.  John  most  unequivocally  declares,  that  the  number  of 
the  beast  is  "  the  number  of  his  name."  ( Ver.  1 7.)  R^r.  Mede  bestows  a  very  high 
and  a  verv  well  deserved  encomium  on  this  work  of  Mr.  Potter. 

The  modes  in  which  the  Romanists  have  computed  this  number,  are  sufficiently 
whimsical.  Feuardcntius  discovers  it  in  the  word  Moametis,  for  so  he  thinks  proper 
to  spell  the  name  of  Mohammed.  He  likewise  linds  it  in  Martin  Lar.ter,  which  he 
says  was  the  original  way  of  spelling  Luther's  name.  (Lowman's  pHraph.  in  loc.) 
This  last  idea  is  considerably  enlarged  bv  I-indanus  and  Bellarniine.  Martin 
Lauter  produces  the  number  in  Saxon  ;  Da-vid  Chilreeus  and  Bezaantill.'ciis,  in  Greek; 
and  "John  Caliiin,  in  Hebrew.  (Cornel,  a  Lap.  Comment,  in  Apoc.  in  loc.)  They 
refraiu  however  very  judiciously  from  specifying  tls  icvcn  hicrds  and  ten  horns  either" 
of  Mohammed,  Luther,  Cliitra;u^,  Beza,  or  Cid-'ia. 


174 

Ashur,  Mizraim,  and  Olfoman,heiiT  tiipie  significations: 
hence  he  informs  us,  that  //•<?  name,  to  which  he  alludes, 
should  not  only  bear  ihis  triple  signijication,  but  should 
likewise  contain  in  its  numerical  letters  the  precise  sum 
of  666. 

Ireiiciis,  the  disciple  of  Po'ycarp,  who  lived  not  very 
long  after  St.  John  himself,  has  been  much  more  happy 
in  pitching  upon  the  name  of  the  beast,  than  in  assigning 
the  proper  reasons  whij  that  particular  appellative  ouischt 
to  be  pitched  upon  in  preference  to  all  others.  "  The 
name  Lntemos^^  says  he,  "  contains  the  number  666  ;" 
"  and  it  is  very  likely  that  this  may  be  the  name,  because 
the  last  kingdom  is  so  called,  for  they  are  Latins  who 
now  reign  :  but  in  this  we  will  not  glory."*  Bp.  New- 
ton has  adopted  the  opinion  of  Irenens,  which  I  believe 
to  be  perfectly  just ;  yet,  what  is  something  remarkable, 
neither  has  he  assigned  the  real  cause,  whij  Latinus,  or, 
according  to  its  ancient  orthography  both  Latin  and 
Greek,  Lateinos  is  the  verif  name  of  the  beast  intended 
by  the  Apostle.  I  shall  endeavour  therefore,  agreeably 
to  the  deductions  made  from  the  apocalyptic  description 
of  it,  to  point  out  why  Latinus,  and  Latinus  alone,  is  the 
??«;;?<?  of  which  we  are  in  quest. 

The  ten-horned  beast,  whose  name  is  declared  to  con- 
tain the  number  666,  is  certainly  tlie  temporal  Roman  cm^ 
pire.  Of  this  Empire  the  second  founder  indeed  was 
Romulus  ;  but  its  //V6/ real  or  fictitious  founder  was  Lat- 
inus, the  ancient  king  of  Latium.  Latinus  therefore  is 
the  name  of  a  man.  It  is  likewise  the  peculiar  name  of 
the  Western  or  divided  Roman  empire,  and  the  distinguish- 
ing appellation  of  ever  if  individual  in  that  Empire.  Here 
it  is  observable,  that  the  Gentile  name  o^  Latinus  ov  a 
Latin  was,  in  the  victorious  days  of  the  republic  and  em- 
pire, almost  lost  in  the  more  favourite  gentile  name  of 
Romanus  or  a  Roman.  Preserved  however  it  carefully 
was,-|-  though  not  so  frequently  used  as  the  other  ;  inso- 

^   hen.  Lib.  5.  Cap.  30. p.  449.  cited  by  Bp.  Newton. 

'  f Latio  :  genus  unde  Latinum, 

Albanique  palres,  atque  altae  moenia  Romx. 


Nee  puer  Iliaca  quisquam  de  gente  Latiiws 

Ui  tantum  spe  toilet  avos Virgil 


175 

much  that,  although  the  people  were  styled  Rommis^ 
their  language  was  denominated  Latin.  But,  when  by 
the  arms  of  the  northern  nations  the  Roman  empire  was 
divided  m\.Q)  ten  kingdoms ;  when,  by  setting  up«  spirit- 
ual tyrant  in  the  Church,  and  by  lapsing  into  papal  idol- 
atry, it  again  became  a  beast ;  when  Rome  was  governed 
by  her  bishops  under  the  wing  of  a  new  line  of  Empe- 
rors ;  and  when  Greece,  formerly  her  instructor  in  the 
arts  and  sciences,  was  now  become  her  rival  both  in  im- 
perial and  ecclesiastical  domination  :  the  old  gentile  name 
o( Latin  was  revived,  and  has  ever  since  been  the  pecu- 
liar distinguishing  title  of  the  papal  Roman  empire  both 
temporal  and  spiritual.  Such  accordingly  is  the  general 
appellation  which  the  inhabitants  of  the  West  bear  in  the 
Eastern  parts  of  the  world  :  the  particular  names  of  Sjjan- 
iards,  French,  and  Italians,  are  swallowed  up  in  the  com- 
mon title  of  Latins.  Hence  Mr.  Gibbon,  in  his  account 
of  the  crusades,  terms,  with  strict  propriety,  the  people 
of  the  western  empire  Latins  :  and  gives  us,  under  this 
name,  the  history  of  the  five  Latin  Emperors  of  Constan- 
tinople.* Hence  also,  though  the  Papists  are  wont  ab- 
surdly to  style  themselves  Roman  catholics,  the  real  name 
of  their  community,  as  contradistinguished  from  the 
Greek  church,  the  Armeuiayi  cJiurcJi,  or  the  Ah/fssiniau 
churchy  is  certainly  the  Latin  church.  Thus  Thevenot, 
in  his  account  of  mount  Sinai,  speaks  of  two  churches, 
one  for  the  Greeks,  and  the  other  for  the  Latins  :  and 
thus  Ricaut,  throughout  his  state  of  the  Greek  and  Ar- 
menian churches,  discriminates  the  Romanists  from  all  oth- 
er professors  of  Chris fianivj  by  the  appellation  of  Z«/- 
ins.-\  The  Papists,  as  Dr.  Henry  IMore  aptly  expresses 
it,  "  latinize  in  every  thing.  Mass,  prayers,  hymns,  lita- 
nies, canons,  decretals,  bulls,  are  conceived  in  Latin. 
The  Papal  councils  speak  in  Latin.  Women  themselves 
pray  in  Latin.  Nor  is  the  Scripture  read  in  any  other 
language,  under  Popery,  than  Latin.  Wherefore  the 
council  of  Trent  commanded  the  vulgar  Latin  to  be  the 

*  Hist,  of  Decline  and   Fall,  Vol.  ii.  p.  2  If,— 301. 

f  Cited  by  Mr.  Granville  Sharpe  in  his  appendix  to  ihrcs  tracts,  p.  126.  I  am  in- 
debted to  this  gentleman  tor  tlie  idea,  that  Latiuus  is  the  name  of  that  paiiimhir  man 
whose  appellative  contains  the  same  nurnbsr  as  thf  r.arr.s  ^f  the  ica;f. 


176 

only  authentic  version;  nor  do  their  doctors  c]oiit)t  to 
prefer  it  to  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  text  itself,  which  was 
written  by  the  prophets  and  apostles.  In  short,  all  things 
are  Latin;  the  Pope  having  communicated  his  language 
to  the  people  under  his  dominion,  as  the  mark  and  char- 
acter of  his  empire."* 

Here  then  we  have  a  name,  which  completely  answers 
in  every  respect  to  the  apocahjptic  name  of  the  beast. 
Lateinos  is  at  once  the  name  of  a  man^  the  title  of  an  em- 
pire^  and  the  distinguishing  appellation  of  evenj  indi-^ 
vidualin  that  empire  :  and,  when  the  sum  of  its  numeri- 
cal letters  is  taken  in  the  Greek  language,  the  language 
in  which  the  Apocalypse  is  written,  and  in  which  there- 
fore the  calculation  ought  evidently  to  be  made,t  it  will 
amount  precisely  to  666.:]:  On  these  grounds  then  I  do 
not  hesitate  to  assert,  that  Lafinus^  and  nothing  but  Lat- 
i}ius\s  the  name  of  the  beast;  for,  in  no  other  word,  de- 
scriptive of  the  revived  temporal  beast.,  or  the  Papal  Ro- 
man empire^  can  such  a  fatal  concurrence  of  circumstances 
be  discovered. 

With  regard  to  the  mark  of  the  beast^  I  think  with  Sir 
Isaac  Newton  that  it  is  the  cross.  This  symbol  has  been 
abused  by  the  Papists  to  the  purposes  both  oithe  most 
infermd  cruel  ties  y  and  o{  the  most  childish  superstition.^ 

*  Mystery  of  Iniquity,  Part  2.  B.  1.  Chap.  15.  and  Moltnaei  Vates,  p.  500.  cited  by 
Bp.  Newton.  "  Hoc  nomine  (Latinus),  post  imperii  divisionem  et  decern  reges  ir 
provinciis  ejus  exortos,  neque  prius,  pseudo-propheta  Romanus,  cum  reliqiiis  Occ 
dentis  incolis,  discriminis  ergo  appellatus  est.  Namque  Gra;ci  et  reliqui  Oricntah  > 
seipsos  solos  Romanes  dici  voluere  ;  nos,  cum  pontifice  nostro,  et  sub  eo  episcopis,  re  - 
gibus,  dynastis,  fatali  quodam  instinctu  Latinos  dixere.  Et  hsc  distinctio  Gracce  L.i- 
tinaque  ecclesia;  adeo  insignis  erat,  ut  in  generalibus  conciliis  Occidentales  patres  sive 
episcopi  Latiiii,  reliqui  vero  Grad  discriniinatim  appeilarentur."    Pol.  Svnop.  in  loc. 

f  I  cannot  but  wonder,  that  any  should  have  thought  of  seeking  tL^  name  of  th- 
hcast  in  a  different  language  from  the  Grceh.  It  is  scarcely  probable  that  St.  John 
should  ivrite  in  one  language,  and  mean  the  calculation  to  be  made  in  another. 

t  A 50 

-A^ 1 

T SCO 

K [■■> 

I 10 

N 50 

O 70 

S 200 

666 
5  When  our  dissenting  brethren  censure  us  for  using  ihs  si^n  of  the  cross  in  tlie 
i):tptisnvjl  ceremony,  because  it  is  used  likewise  by  the  papists,  they  ought  to  consider 


i 


177 

The  cruelties^  that  have  been  perpetrated  under  its 
sanction  are  notorious.  1  am  strongly  inclined  to  believe, 
that,  when  St.  John  beheld  the  secular  beast  making  war 
upon  the  saints^  he  beheld  him  likewise  with  astonish- 
ment bearing  the  badge  of  the  cross  :  for  this  was  the 
very  symbol  worn  by  ail  those,  who  at  the  instigation  of 
the  Pope  undertook  those  diabolical  expeditions  against 
pretended  heretics,  which  were  thence  denominated  c/'m- 
sades.  \n  the  time  of  Innocent  the  thirds  it  was  alledg- 
ed  against  the  unfortunate  Waldenses  and  Albigenses, 
that  they  had  cast  the  books  of  the  Gospel  into  the  com- 
mon sewers  in  the  sight  of  the  bishops  and  priests.  Oa 
the  score  of  this  lying  accusation,  the  zealous  pontiffs  cut 
to  the  heart  by  such  profaneness,  determined  to  extirpate 
them  with  fire  and  sword.  Accordingly  he  proclaimed 
a  solemn  crusade  against  them,  and  sent  preachers  into  all 
the  regions  of  the  VV^est,  injoining  both  sovereign  princes 
and  other  Christian  people,  that,  for  the  remission  of  their 
sins,  they  should  forthwith  sign  themselves  with  the  cross, 
and  under  that  holy  symbol  should  extirpate  the  pest 
which  had  invaded  the   Church.*       The  secular  beast, 

that  the  use  of  it  is  either  Innocent  (■«■  not  innocent,  exactly  according  as  It  is  reli- 
gious or  not  religious.  It  was  only  by  a  vain  and  cruel  abuse  of  the  si^n  of  the  cross, 
that  it  became  the  mark  of  the  beast  :  had  a  circle,  or  a  square,  been  thought  by  the 
papists  more  convenient  for  their  purpose,  either  of  those  figures  would  iu  that 
case  have  been  as  much  toe  mark  of  the  Least  as  a  cross.  If  indeed  the  church  of  Eng- 
land either  proclaimed  a  crusade  against  the  dissenters,  or  laid  any  mysterious  -weighs 
upon  the  use  of  the  cross  in  bapiisv!,  she  certainly  would  not  in  these  respects  have  puri- 
fied herself  from  the  corruptions  of  the  papal  beast ;  but,  concerning  all  her  ceremo- 
nies, and  therefore  the  use  of  the  cross  in  baptism  among  the  rest,  nothing  can  be  more 
niodei-ate  and  rational  than  the  language  which  she  uses.  "  In  these  our  doings  we 
condemn  no  other  nations,  nor  prescribe  any  thing  but  to  our  own  people  only  : 
for  we  think  it  convenient,  that  every  country  should  use  such  ceremonies  as  they 
shall  think  best  to  the  setting  forth  of  God's  honour  and  glory,  and  to  the  reducing 
«f  the  people  to  a  most  perfect  and  godly  living,  without  error  or  superstition." 
Hence  it  appears,  that  she  onlv  wishes  "  all  things  to  be  done  decently  and  ia 
order  ;"  and  that,  if  other  protestant  churches  dislike  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  baptism, 
she  would  by  no  means  impose  upon  them  the  use  of  it,  as  an  indispensable  term 
of  spiritual  communion  in  a  common  Lord.  She  disapproves  indeed  of  the  endless 
cruciform  evolutions  of  the  Papists  ;  but  she  can  discover  no  reason,  why  their  vain 
mummeries  should  m?.ke  it  sinful  or  superstitious  in  her  ministers  to  sign  a  newly 
baptized  child  "  witil  the  sign  of  the  crOss,  in  token  that  hereafter  he  shall  not  be  asha?ned 
to  confess  the  faith  of  Chr-jt  crucifed."  Hence,  "  to  take  away  all  scruple  concerning 
the  sign  of  the  cross  in  baptism,"  she  refers  us  for  the  true  explication  thereof,  and 
the  just  reasons  for  the  retaining  of  it,  to  the  30th  Canon. 

*  «  Papa  Innocentius,  his  auditis,"  (namely  the  false  accusations  preferred  against 
the  Waldenses)  "non  mediocriter  condoluit.  Qui, missis  prredicatoribus  ad  omnesregi- 
•-■■nes  occideatis,  principibas  uliisque  populis  Christianis,  in  suorum  remissionem  pecca- 

VOL.    If.  9.3 


17S 

faithful  to  the  commands  of  his  colleague,  immediately 
assumed  this  badge  :  and  ere  long,  throughout  France 
alone,  there  were  slain  of  the  Reformed,  according  to  Vi- 
tringa,  ten  hundred  thousand  men. 

The  childish  superstition,  to  which  the  sign  of  the  cross 
has  been  prostituted,  is  scarcely  less  notorious.  On  this 
the  Rubric  of  the  Roman  Missal  will  be  the  best  com- 
mentary. In  consecrating  the  baptismal  water,  the  priest 
is  directed  to  divide  it,  in  the  form  of  «  cross,  with  his 
extended  hand,  which  he  is  immediately  to  wipe  with  a 
cloth.  Afterwards  he  is  again  to  touch  the  water  with 
his  hand  :  next  he  is  to  make  three  crosses  upon  the  font : 
and  then  he  is  to  divide  the  water  with  his  hand,  pour- 
ing it  out,  cross-zvise,  to  the  four  parts  of  the  world. 
Having  duly  gone  through  this  process,  muttering  all  the 
while  in  such  a  manner  as  not  to  be  heard  by  the  bye- 
standers,  he  is  to  change  his  voice,  and  recite  a  short 
prayer  in  the  tone  of  reading.  The  prayer  being  ended, 
he  breathes  three  times  upon  the  water  in  the  form  of  a 
cross;  and  then,  resuming  the  low  muttering  tone  of  his 
former  incantation,  he  drops  a  little  wax  into  the  water. 
Thrice  he  drops  this  wax  into  the  water,  and  thrice  he 
takes  it  out ;  blowing,  at  its  lc.«t  immersion,  three  times 
upon  the  water  in  the  cruciform  figure  of  the  Greek  let- 
ter V  Psi.  Lastly,  he  mixes  oil  and  cream  with  the  wa- 
ter,  moving  his  hand  to  and  fro  in  the  shape  of  a  cross  ; 
and  the  consecrated  commixtio,  as  it  is  termed,  is  thought 
to  be  then  duly  prepared  for  the  administration  of  the 
sacrament  of  baptism.  Nor  is  the  c?^oss  used  in  this 
absurdly  superstitious  manner  throughout  the  initiatory 
rite  of  Christianity  alone.  Holy  eggs  and  holy  candles, 
holy  salt  and  hoi}'  water,  go  through  a  somewhat  simi- 
lar ceremony  ;  and  are  marked,  in  a  similar  manner,  with 
the  sign  o^  the  cross.  Nay,  even  when  not  immediately 
engaged  in  performing  the  rites  of  his  multifarious  ado- 
ration, let  a  Papist  be  assailed  either  by  natural  or  super- 
natural terrors,  and  he  will  forthwith  almost  mechanical- 

tonim  injunxit,  ut  se  cruce  signarent  ad  hanc  pestem  extirpandum."     (Matt.  Pam. 
Hist.  Mag.  Angl.  p.  241.  cited  by  Mr.  Sharpe.)     This  same  badge  of  the  cress  wil! 
probably  be  again  assumed  in  ibe  last  holy  luar,  undertaken  by  the  least  and  the  fa! 
prophet,  seemingly  against  the  pratisiants  and  tbejeivs.  (Rev.  xix.   19,  20.)     Of  th;5. 
war  more  will  be  said  hereafter. 


179 

ly  commence  the  operation  of  crossing  himself  in  various 
parts  of  his  body.* 

Such  is  the  wonderful  accuracy  of  the  whole  prophecy 
respecting  both  the  name  and  the  mark  of  the  beast — 
Though  the  ancient  Romans  called  themselves  Latins^ 
yet  they  were  better  known  by  the  appellation  o^ Romans. 
When  the  Emjme  was  divided,  both  the  eastern  and  the 
ivestern  members  of  it  still  denominated  themselves  Ro- 
mans ;  but,  for  the  sake  of  distinction,  its  western  branch 
was  henceforth  styled  tJie  Latin  empire^  and  its  eastern 
branch  the  Greek  empire.  The  revived  beast  however, 
"  that  was,  and  is  not,  and  3'et  is,"  is  in  a  special  manner, 
under  his  last  head,  the  Latin  empire  :  and  it  is  the  pecu- 
liar name  of  this  identical  revived  beast,  which  (the  pro- 
phet tells  us)  comprehends  the  number  666.  Now  the 
peculiar  name  of  that  beast  is  Latinus  :  and  Latinus  ex- 
actly contains  the  number  666.  Can  we  doubt  then  of 
Latinus  being  the  name  intended  hy  St.  John  !■ — As  for 
the  mark  of  the  beast,  which  I  conceive  to  be  the  cross, 
this  mark,  no  less  than  the  name  Latinus,  is  peculiar  to 
the  beast  that  is,  or  tJie  papal  Roman  empire,  as  contra- 
distinguished from  the  beast  that  zoas,  or  the  pagan  Ro- 
man empire.  The  ancient  Roman  beast  despised  the  cross  : 
but  the  revived  Roman  or  Latin  beast  made  it  his  pecu- 
liar badge  not  only  in  religious  but  civil  matters,  intro- 
ducing it  into  his  standards,  blazoning  it  in  the  armorial 
bearings  of  man}^  of  his  great  men,-|*  and  displaying  it  up- 
on the  crowns  o^  all  his  ten  horns  ;  insomuch  that  thecres- 
cent   is  not   more  the  mark  of  Turkeij,  or  the  dragon  of 

*  Missal.  Roman,  edit.  Plantin.  p.  ST.'B — 285.  Cited  by  Mr.  Sharpe.  Mrs.  Bowdler 
tliinks,  that  the  name  of  blasj)hecy,  which  she  supposes  to  mean  apostjcy,  and  which  St. 
John  beheld  written  upon  the  heads  of  the  beast,  is  the  mark  in  question.  I  am  far  from 
disliking  her  idea ;  and  many  may  very  probably  prefer  it  to  that,  which  I  have 
adopted  from  Sir  Isaac  Newton.  According  to  this  interpretation,  none  are  permit- 
ted to  buy  or  sell  except  those  who  are  implicated  iu  the  predicted  blasphemy  or  aposfacy 
with  which  the  man  of  sin  has  tainted  the  Latin  empire.  Practical  Observ,  on  the 
Rev.  p.  35. 

f  "That,  which  made  this  ordinary  so  considerable,  and  so  frequently  used  iu 
heraldry,  was  the  ancient  expeditions  into  the  Holy  land,  and  the  holy  war  :  for  the 
pilgrims,  after  their  pilgrimage,  took  the  cross  for  their  cognizance,  and  tiie  ensign  of 
that  war  was  the  cross  ;  and  therefore  these  expeditions  were  called  Croissades.  In 
these  wars,  the  Scots  carried  St.  Andreius  cross  ;  the  French,  a  cross  argent ;  the 
English  a  cross  or ;  the  Germans,  sable ;  the  Italians,  azure ;  the  Spaniards,  gules^ 
Guiltim's  Heraldry,  p.  51, 


180 

China.,  than  the  much  abused  symbol  of  the  cross  is  of 
the  papal  Latin  empire — The  name  then  of  the  beast  \% 
Latinus;  the  number  oj^  his  name  is  6(^6  ;  and  his  mark^ 
*^  the  cross. 

With  his  description  oi  the  name  of  the  revived  beast 
the  prophet  interweaves  an  intimation  of  the  extreme 
jealousy  with  which  the  ecclesiastical  beast  s{\ovi\d  regard 
every  opposition  to  his  authority.  Ail,  who  refused  to 
bear  the  name  o{  Latins  or  Romans,  and  to  receive  the 
mark  of  the  cross,  as  badges  of  their  communion  with 
him,  and  as  an  acknowledgment  of  his  supremacy,  should 
be  allowed  neither  to  buy  nor  to  sell. 

No  one  can  be  ignorant  of  the  tremendous  interdicts 
and  excommunications  of  the  Pope.  St.  John  however 
does  more  than  merely  speak  of  them  in  general  terms  ; 
he  po'mts  out  the  precise  mode  o(  the'w  operation.  Bp. 
Newton  has  collected  a  variety  of  instances  in  which 
the  predicted  tyranny  bf  the  ecclesiastical  beast  has  re- 
ceived even  a  literal  accomplishment.  "  If  any,^^  says 
he,  "  dissent  from  the  stated  and  authorized  forms  of  the 
Latin  church,  they  are  condemned  and  excommunicated 
as  heretics  ;  and,  in  consequence  of  that,  they  are  no  long- 
er suffered  to  buy  or  sell :  they  are  interdicted  from  traf- 
fic and  commerce,  and  all  the  benefits  of  civil  society. 
So  Roger  Hoveden  relates  of  William  the  Conqueror,  that 
he  was  so  dutiful  to  the  Pope,  that  he  would  not  per- 
mit any  one  in  his  power  to  buy  or  sell  any  thing,  whom 
he  found  disobedient  to  the  apostolic  see.  So  the  canon 
of  the  council  of  Lateran  under  Pope  Alexander  the  third, 
made  against  the  Waldenses  and  Albigenses,  injoins  up- 
on pain  of  anathema,  that  no  man  presume  toentertain  or 
cherish  them  in  his  house  or  land,  or  exercise  traffic 
with  them.  The  synod  of  Tours  in  France  uwdex the  same 
Pope  orders,  under  the  like  intermination,  that  no  man 
should  presume  to  receive  or  assist  them,  no  not  so 
much  as  to  hold  any  communion  with  them  in  buying  or 
selling  ;  that,  being  deprived  of  the  comfort  of  humani- 
ty,* they  may  be  compelled  to  repent  of  the  error  of  their 

*  Such  are  the  convincing  arguments  used  by  Papists  against  those  whom  they 
are  pleased  to  style  heretics.  The  same  pains  and  penalties  appear  to  be  still  attached 
to  excommunication  in  Ireland,  so  far  as  the  Popish  priests  are  able  to  enforce  the":- 


181 

ways.  Pope  Martin  the  fifths  in  his  bull  set  out  after 
the  council  of  Constance,  commands  in  like  manner,  that 
they  permit  not  the  heretics  to  have  houses  in  their  dis- 
tricts, or  enter  into  contracts,  or  carry  on  commerce,  or 
enjoy  the  comforts  of  humanity  with  Christians."* 

The  sum  then  of  the  whole  is  this.  The  tzoo  apoca- 
lyptic beasts  are  the  tzoo  contemporary  Roman  Empires, 
temporal  and  spiritual,  each  subsisting  under  its  proper 
head.  The  last  head  of  the  one,  under  which  it  will  go 
into  perdition,  is  its  double  head,  the  patricio-imperial 
line  oj' the  Carlovingian  Emperors  :  the  sole  head  of  the 
other  is  the  line  of  Popes  from  the  year  606,  when  the 
saints  were  formally  given  into  the  hand  of  the  little  horn, 
and  when  the  period  of  1260  days  commenced.  These 
txi'O  Empires  mutually  support  each  other  in  their  joint 
tyrannical  persecution  oi  the  zvitnesses  ;  and  are  primari- 
ly, though  unconsciously,  influenced  in  their  proceedings 
by  the  infernal  serpent. 

In  order  that  the  close  connection  of  the  tzvo  empires 
may  the  more  evidently  appear,  St.  John  gives  us  a  com- 
plete double,  though  united,symbol  of  them  both, as  they 
stand  leagued  together  till  their  final  destruction  under 
the  last  vial  at  the  termination  oithe  1260  years. 

"  And  there  came  unto  me  one  of  the  seven  angels, 
which  had  the  seven  vials,  and  talked  with  me,  saying 
unto  me.  Come  hither ;  I  will  shew  unto  thee  the  judg- 
ment of  the  great  whore,  that  sitteth  upon  many  waters  : 
with  whom  the  kings  of  the  earth  have  committed  forni- 
cation, and  the  inhabiters  of  the  earth  have  been  made 
drunk  with  the  wine  of  her  fornication.  So  he  carried 
me  away  in  the  spirit  into  the  wilderness  ;  and  I  saw  a 
woman  sit  upon  a  scarlet  coloured  beast,  full  of  names 
of  blasphemy,  having  seven  heads  and  ten  horns.  And 
the  woman  was  arrayed  in  purple  and  scarlet  colour,  and 
decked  with  gold  and  precious  stones  and  pearls,  having 
a  golden  cup  in  her  hand,  full  of  abominations  and  filthi- 

In  the  debate  in  the  house  of  Lords  (May  10th  1805.)  on  what  has  been  insidiously 
ttrmed  the  catholic  emancipation.  Lord  Redesdale  publicly  declared,  that  he  knew  a 
protestant  gentleman,  who  had  saved  an  unfortunate  man  under  a  popish  sentence 
of  excommunication  from  starving  in  the  streets. 

*  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  Rev.  xiii. 


182 

Bess  of  hpr  fornication.  And  upon  her  forehead  was  n 
name,  written,  Mystery,  Babylon  the  great,  the  mother 
of  harlots  and  abominations  of  the  earth.  And  I  saw  the 
woman  drunken  with  the  blood  of  the  saints,  and  with 
the  blood  of  the  martyrs  of  Jesus  :  and,  when  1  saw  her^ 
I  wondered  with  great  admiration.^' 

Here  again  we  behold  the  great  secular  Roman  heasi 
seven-headed  and  ten-horned^  now  represented  as  closely 
leagued  with  a  nujstic  harlot^  in  the  same  manner  as  he 
was  before  connected  with  the  two-horned  beast.  The 
reason  is  this  :  a  harlot  is  only  another  symbol  of  an 
apostate  idolatrous  church  :  both  the  woman  and  the  sec- 
ond beast  equally  typify  the  spiritual  empire  of  the  Pa- 
pacy. In  the  former  symbol,  Poperij  was  described  as 
the  co-adjutor  and  instigator  of  the  temporal  beast:  in 
the  present  symbol,  it  is  represented  in  the  plenitude  of 
its  power  riding  triumphantly  upon  the  neck  of  kings, 
and  exalting  its  authority  far  above  that  of  its  secular 
colleague.* 

The  great  zvhore  is  said  to  sit  upon  many  ivatei'S — These 
nmters  are  explained  by  the  angel  to  mean  peoples^  and 
multitudes^  and  nations^  and  tongues.  The  sitting  there- 
fore  of  the  whore  tipon  manif  zvaters  is  precisely  equiva- 
lent to  her  sitting  upon  the  beast ;  for  the  beast  symboliz- 
es the  divided  Roman  empire.,  and  consequently  all  the 
waters  or  nations  which  it  comprehends. 

She  is  the  zidiore,  zoith  zihofn  the  kings  of  the  earth 
have  committed  fornication^  and  zmth  zahose  infatuating 
cup  all  their  subjects  have  been  intoxicated — The  kings  of 
the  earth  are  the  kings  ziuithin  the  precincts  of  the  Roman 
earth  or  empire ;  and  the  fornication,  which  they  have 
committed  with  the  zvhore,  is  spiritual  fornication.,  or  an 
idolatrous  apostacy  from  the  simplicity  of  the  Gospel. 
As  the  kings  or  horns  of  the  secular  beast  supported  with 
all  their  might  the  corruptions  Gf  the  zohore,  so  were  their 

'  The  constniction  of  this  compound  Jiieroglyphic  furnishes  another  argument, 
in  addition  to  those  already  adduced,  to  prove  that  tie  icn-horticd  beast  cannot  be  the 
Papacy.  The  harlot  is  evidently  a  distinct  power  from  the  beast  upon  which  slie  rides. 
But  the  harlot  IS  the  Papacy.  'I'lierefore  the  Least  cannot  be  the  Papacy  likewise.  It 
is  not  unworthy  of  observation,  tliat  the  love  of  system  has  actually  led  some  com- 
mentators to  assert  expressly,  that  the  least  is  the  same  as  his  rider.  "  I  dcm  Anti- 
ohristus  per  mulicrem  et  per  bestiam  spectandus  producitur."     Pol.  Svnop.  in  loc. 


183 

subjects  made  drunk  with  her  poisonous  doctrines.  None 
escaped,  but  the  two  mystic  ivitnesses  :  and  their  refusal 
to  partake  of  the  wine  of  her  fornication  was  the  cause 
of  all  the  persecution  which  they  endured  both  from  f/te 
kings  and  from  the  inhabitants  of  the  Roman  earthy  who 
had  tasted  of  her  maddening  cup. 

The  place,  zvhere  St.  John  beheld  the  zvho7^e  riding  upon 
her  scarlet  beast ^  zcas  the  zcilderness — He  saw  the  zcoman^ 
once  the  chaste  spouse  of  Christ,  now  polluted  with  spirit- 
ual fornication^  and  ^^\Q.{^\Y\\^^the  Koilderncss  of  error,  sin, 
and  delusion,  to  her  former  appointed  place  the  inclosed 
vineijard*  of  the  Church.  He  saw  her,  so  far  from  testi- 
fying any  shame  on  account  of  her  adulteries,  glorying 
and  triumphing  with  the  brazen  front  of  a  determined 
strumpet  in  her  manifold  abominations.  He  saw  her 
advancing  yet  another  step  in  iniquity  ;  and,  instead  of 
possessing  the  comparative  innocence  of  resting  satisfied 
with  her  own  whoredoms  alone,  labouring  to  make  pros- 
elytes to  her  fornications,  tyrannizing  over  the  struggling 
conscience  of  the  irresolute,  and  "  drunken  with  the 
blood  of  the  saints  and  martyrs  of  Jesus."  When  he 
saw  a  church  of  Christ  thus  fallen  from  her  high  estate, 
thus  apostate,  thus  corrupted,  thus  persecuting  the  faith- 
ful with  even  more  bitterness  than  pagan  Rome ;  well 
might  he  wonder  with  exceeding  great  admiration.  To 
a  primitive  believer  the  thing  would  seem  as  it  were  im- 
possible ;  and  St.  John,  who  doubtless  like  the  other 
prophets  fully  understood  the  general  meaning  of  his 
own  symbolical  language,  was  probably  at  a  loss  to  con- 
ceive how  his  prediction  could  ever  be  accomplished  in 
a  professed  church  of  his  meek  and  lowly  master. f 

Upon  the  forehead  of  the  zvhore  zz'as  zcritten,  x^ltfsterif^ 
Sahijlon  the  great,  the  mother  of  harlots  and  aboininations 
of  the  earth — Hence  we  may  conclude,  that  Bahijlon 
was  not  her  real,  but  only  her  mijstic^  name.  Accord- 
ingly, v/hen  the  angel  teaches  St.  John  "  the  mijstenj  of 

*  Isaiah  v.  xxvii. 
f  St.  John  with  the  books  of  the  aacient  prophets  before  him  could  not  but  know, 
that  a  harlot  was  the  type  of  an  apostate  and  idolatrous  church.  The  clays  of  Aholah 
and  Aholibaniah  were  now  past ;  Israel  was  no  longer  the  church  of  the  Lord.  St. 
John  therefore  would  be  certain,  that  the  scarlet  ivhore  must  mean  some  future  Christ- 
ian church  :  hence  naturally  arcse  his  great  admiration.     .See  Ezek.  xvi.  and  xxiii. 


184 

the  woman,  and  of  the  beast  that  carrieth  her,"  he  expH-" 
citly  informs  him,  that  "  the  woman,  which  he  saw,  is 
that  great  city  which  reigneth  over  the  kings  of  the  earth." 
This  great  citif  however  can  be  nothing  but  the  empire  of' 
Rome.  Pagan  Rome  it  cannot  be  m  the  days  ojU he  har- 
lot ;  because  pagan  Rome  was  rather  the  learner  than  the 
teacher  of  idolatry.  If  then  it  be  not  pagan  Rome,  it 
must  be  papal  Rome.  This  point  is  yet  further  evident 
from  the  manner,  in  which  the  angel  speaks  of  the  ten 
kings.  He  tells  the  prophet,  that  they  had  not  received 
their  kingdom  as  yet,  but  should  receive  power  along 
with  the  beast  in  one  apocalyptic  season  :  and  he  adds, 
that  they  should  give  their  power  and  strength  to  the  re- 
vived beast ;  or,  in  other  words,  that  they  should  be  the 
secular  beast^s  engines  of  persecution,*  and  should  up- 
hold with  all  their  might  the  new  system  of  idolatry,  by 
the  establishment  of  which  the  beast,  that  was  not,  as- 
cended afresh  out  of  the  bottomless  pit.  The  ten  ld?)gs 
therefore,  who  were  yet  future  in  the  days  of  St.  Jolm 
and  who  erected  their  thrones  upon  the  ruins  of  the  an- 
cient empire,  who  first  gave  their  power  to  the  beast  and 
who  afterwards  should  hate  the  whore  their  former  para- 
mour, have  manifestly  been  contemporary,  not  with  pa- 
gan, but  with  papal,  Rome :  the  whore  therefore  cannot 
he  pagan,  but  must  be  papal,  Rome.'\ 

Thus  it  appears,  that  this  grand  compound  hieroglyphic 
of  the  zooman  and  her  beast  represents  the  whole  of  the 
great  city  which  reigneth  over  the  kings  of  the  earth  ;  the 
woman  symbolizing  its  spiritual  empire,  and  her  beast 
symbolizing  its  temporal  empire :  that  is  to  say,  this 
complete  hieroglyphic  exhibits  to  us  at  one  view  the 
tzvo  co-existing  Roman  empires,  which  the  prophet  had 
before  described  separately  under  the  symbols  of  two 
Jriendly  contemporary  beasts,  leagued  together  for  the 
purpose   of  erecting  both   a  civil  and  an  ecclesiatical 

*  "  It  was  given  unto  him  (the  secular  Least)  to  make  war  with  the  saints,  and  to 
overcome  them."  (Rev.  xiii.  7.)  This  he  did,  at  the  instigation  indeed  of  the  second 
least,  but  through  the  instrumentality  of  his  own  ten  horns. 

f  The  reader  will  find  the  whole  character  of  the  harlot  excellently  elucidated  by 
Bp.  Newton  in  his  Dissertation  upon  this  part  of  the  Apocalypse. 


185 

tyranny  over  the  minds  as  well  as  over  the  bodies  of 
men.* 

SECTION    V. 

The  historif  of  the  true  Church  durmg  the  period  of  the 
great  Apostacy — The  harvest  and  vintage  of  God's 


'ath 

After  this  account  of  the  persecution  of  the  witnesses, 
the  war  oi  the  dragon^  and  the  rise  and  tyranny  of  the 
two  beasts^  St.  John  proceeds  to  describe  the  state  of  the 
true  Church  during  the  same  period  of  1260  t/ears ;  its 
great  contest  with  tlie  mystic  Babylon  at  the  time  of  the 
Reformation ;  and  the  judgments  of  God  upon  his  ene- 
mies duvmg  the  tzoo  grand  periods  comprised  under  the 
seventh  trumpet^  namely  the  harvest  and  the  vintage  of 
God's  wrath. 

"  And  I  looked,  and  lo,  a  Lamb  stood  on  the  mount 
Zion,  and  with  him  an  hundred  forty  and  four  thousand, 
having  his  Father's  name  written  in  their  foreheads. 
And  1  heard  a  voice  from  heaven,  as  the  voice  of  many 
■waters,  and  as  the  voice  of  a  great  thunder  :  and  1  heard 
the  voice  of  harpers  harping  with  their  harps.  And  they 
sung  as  it  were  a  new  song  before  the  throne  and  before 
the  four  beasts,  and  the  elders  ;  and  no  man  could  learn 
that  song,  but  the  hundred  and  forty  and  four  thousand, 
which  were  redeemed  from  the  earth.  These  are  they, 
which  were  not  defiled  with  women,  for  they  are  virgins  : 
these  are  they,  which  follow  the  Lamb  whithersoever  he 
goeth  :  these  were  redeemed  from  among  men,  being  the 

Mr.  Galloway  singularly  fancies,  that  the  great  tvhore  means  the  confederacy  of  tic 
least,  the  false  prophet,  and  the  kings  of  the  earth.  This  opinion  of  his  runs  directly 
counter  both  to  symbolical  propriety,  and  to  the  plain  declaration  of  St.  John.  A 
•whore  is  the  symbol  of  a  degenerate  and  corrupt  church,  and  is  never  used  to  typify  a 
conspiracy  .-  the  seven-headed  and  ten-horned  beast,  upon  which  she  is  sitting,  is  manifestly 
the  great  Roman  beast,  which  had  already  been  described  in  the  13th  chapter  of  the 
Revelation  :  and  the  Apostle  explicitly  tells  us,  that  the  tvhore  is  "  that  great  city 
which  reigneth  over  the  kings  of  the  earth."  Hence  it  is  manifest,  that  she  must 
be  the  Roman  empire  either  pagan  or  papal.  Consequently  she  cannot  be  a  confederacy, 
as  Mr.  Galloway  supposes,  of  Papists,  Mohatnmedans,  and  Iifdels.  What  is  scarcely 
fair  in  a  professed  discussion  of  a  prophecy,  Mr.  Galloway  omits  all  that  part  of  it 
"which  makes  against  his  system.  He  quotes  the  17th  chapter  of  the  Revelation, 
which  fully  describes  ^//^  ivhore  and  htr  ^mj^,  only  at  far  as  the  Cth  Verce.  Sec 
Comment,  p.  276. 

VOL.   II.  91 


186 

first  fruits  unto  God,  and  to  the  Lamb.  And  in  their 
mouth  was  found  no  guile  :  for  they  are  without  fault  be- 
fore the  throne  of  God." 

Hitherto  we  have  beheld  only  the  gloomy  side  of  the 
affairs  of  the  Churchy  the  troubles  and  persecutions  which 
she  experienced  from  the  dragon  and  the  two  beasts  ;  we 
are  now  invited  to  contemplate  that  paradox,  which  real 
Christianity  can  alone  explain.  The  144,000,  here  men- 
tioned, are  the  spiritual  descendants  of  the  twelve  Apos- 
tles, apostolically  multiplied.  They  are  the  immediate 
successors  of  the  144,000  sealed  servants  of  God,*  who 
bore  their  testimony  to  the  truths  of  the  Gospel  in  the 
days  of  Paganism  ;  and  who  "  came  out  of  great  tribula- 
tion," to  enjoy  a  short  respite  from  their  troubles  in  the 
tranquil  age  of  Constantine.-j*  They  are  the  same  in 
short  as  the  two  zoit?iesses,  or  the  Ime  oj' faithful  believers, 
whom  God  supported  by  the  invisible  though  powerful 
agency  of  his  Spirit  through  the  whole  term  of  the  reign 
of  the  beasts.  In  the  particular  history  of  the  Apostacij 
itself,  they  are  described  as  oppressed  and  prophesying 
in  sackcloth  :  here  they  are  represented  in  a  state  of 
exultation  and  triumph,  as  rejoicing  in  that  "joy  which 
no  man  taketh  from  them."  The  two  accounts  there- 
fore, when  put  together,  exhibit  them  to  us,  like  the  prim- 
itive Christians,  as  "  sorrowful  yet  always  rejoicing,"  as 
"  rejoicing  in  tribulation,"  and  as  even  "  exceeding  joy- 
ful in  tribulation."  That  this  exultation  is  purely  of  a 
spiritual  nature,  and  that  it  subsists  along  with  great  tem- 
poral adversity,  is  evident  both  from  the  preceding  exter- 
nal history  of  the  witnesses,  and  from  the  intimations 
which  are  given  even  in  the  present  chapter  itself  that 
the  Church  is  still  in  a  suffering  state  notwithstanding 
her  triumphant  spiritual  joy  in  the  Lamb.:}: 

The  144,000  appeared  to  the  Apostle  as  standing  on 
the  mount  Zion,  or  in  the  true  Church,  because  they  con- 
stituted the  persecuted  Church  in  the  n'llderness  .§  and, 
as  the  followers  of  the  beast  have  the  mark  and  name  of 

*  They  are  said  to  have  been  sealed  in  the  age  of  Constaiitine,  to  separate  them, 
as  I  have  already  observ^ed,  from  the  many  that  then  began  to  "  cleave  to  them 
with  flatteries."     Dan.  xi.  34. 

t  Rev.vii,  \  See  Rev,  xiv.  12,  \?>.  §  Rev.  xii.  6,  14. 


187 

iJie  Least ;  so  have  these  iJie  seal  of  God  impressed,*  and 
i/ie  name  of  God  written,  on  their  foreheads.  They  alone 
are  able  to  learn  the  new  song  of  the  heavenly  harpers, 
because  they  alone  are  the  worshippers  of  the  one  true  God 
through  the  one  true  mediator  Jesus  Christ ;  the  adher- 
ents of  the  Apostacf/  offering  up  their  devotions  to  other 
objects,  and  through  other  mediators.  They  are  virgins, 
undefiled  with  women,  inasmuch  as  they  are  free  from 
the  pollutions  of  idolatry  ;  which  is  spiritual  whoredom, 
and  adultery.  They  follow  the  Lamb  whithersoever  he 
goeth,  resolutely  adhering  to  the  religion  of  Christ  in 
troublesome  times  as  well  as  in  prosperous  ones,  and  flee- 
ing into  sequestered  vallies  and  wild  deserts  rather  than 
relinquish  their  profession  of  the  Gospel.  They  are  re- 
deemed from  among  men,  being  rescued  by  the  almigh- 
ty power  of  divine  grace  from  the  corruptions  and  abom- 
inations of  Babylon  ;  and  they  are  consecrated  as  the  first 
fruits  of  Christianity  unto  God  and  the  Lamb,  an  earnest 
and  assurance  of  a  more  plentiful  harvest  first  at  the  era 
of  the  Reformation  and  afterwards  at  the  yet  more  glo- 
rious era  of  the  Millennium.  In  their  mouth  was  found 
no  guile  :  inasmuch  as  they  handle  not  the  word  of  God 
deceitfully,  like  Popish  venders  of  indulgences,  and 
preachers  of  purgatory,  human  merit,  and  idolatry  ;  but 
faithfully,  and  simply,  declare  the  way  of  everlasting  life. 
And  they  are  without  fault  before  the  throne  of  God, 
having  washed  their  robes  and  made  them  white  in  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb  ;  God  not  imputing  their  trespasses 
unto  them,  but  accounting  them  as  if  they  had  never 
sinned,  through  the  imputed  righteousness  of  Christ, 
who  was  made  sin  for  them,  in  order  that  they  might 
be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him. 

By  these  144,000, 1  understand  peculiarly  thedepresS" 
ed  Church  in  thendldcrness  previous  to  the  time  oi  the 
Reformation  :  for  history  sufficiently  demonstrates,  that 
there  have  been  in  every  age  some  faithful  worshippers, 
who  consented  not  to  the  general  Apostacy^  but  who 
prophesied,  although  in  sackcloth,  against  its  abomina- 
tions. These  however  went  on  their  way  in  compara- 
tive obscurity,  rejoicing  that  they  were  accounted  wor- 

"  Rev.  vii.  ". 


■~wpp»' 


188 

thy  to  suffer  for  the  name  of  the  Lord  [Jesus.  They 
make  no  very  prominent  figure  in  history,  nor  were  they 
able  to  shake  the  deep-rooted  authority  oi  the  man  of  sin. 
Hence  they  are  represented  only  as  prophesying  in  sack- 
cloth, and  as  patiently  exulting  in  their  suiferings  on 
mount  Zion  in  the  presence  of  the  Lamb.  We  must 
next  turn  our  eyes  to  those  more  efficacious  and  decisive 
measures,  which  forced  the  papal  tyrant  to  tremble  upon 
his  usurped  throne  for  his  now  disputed  authority.* 

"  And  1  saw  another  angel  fly  in  the  midst  of  heaven, 
having  the  everlasting  Gospel  to  preach  unto  them  that 
dwell  on  the  earth,  and  to  every  nation,  and  kindred, 
and  tongue,  and  people.  Saying  with  a  loud  voice,  Fear 
God,  and  give  glory  to  him,  tor  the  hour  of  his  judgment 
is  come  :  and  worship  him  that  made  heaven  and  earth, 
and  the  sea,  and  the  fountains  of  waters." 

The  appearance  of  the  angel,  or  Christian  mi?iiste?\-f 
here  mentioned,  is  sudden  and  unexpected.  While  the 
144,000  are  humbly  singing  the  song  of  the  Lamb  in 
despised  obscurity,  this  servant  of  God  boldly  shews  him- 
self in  the  very  midst  of //^e  symbolical  heaven^  a  conspic- 
uous object  to  the  whole  world,  armed  only  with  the 
everlasting  Gospel  ;  which  he  openly  preaches  to  them 
that  dwell  on  the  earth,  or  the  Roman  empire,  loudly 
calling  unto  all  nations  to  fear  God  and  worship  him  only. 

1  his  striking  and  peculiar  type  will  be  found  precisely 
to  answer  in  every  particular  to  the  dawn  of  the  Refor- 
mation. When  the  144,000  had  long  rejoiced  in  their 
sufferings,  and  had  long  separated  themselves  from  the 
communion  of  the  man  of  sin  in  order  that  they  might 
*'  follow  the  Lamb  whithersoever  he  goeth  ;"  when  a 
reformation  of  the  glaring  corruptions  of  Popery  was  lit- 
tle likely  to  originate  in  the  symbolical  heaven  either  ec- 
clesiastical  or  secular  :  then  it  was  that  Luther  first  step- 
ped forward.  "  While  the  Roman  pontiff,"  says  the  his- 
torian Mosheim,  "  slumbered  in  security  at  the  head  of 
the  Church,  and  saw  nothing  throughout  the  vast  ex^ 

*  See  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  Rev.  xiv.  In  the  exposition  of  the  first  part  of 
this  chapter,  I  have  followed  his  Lordsliip  ;  in  that  of  the  succeeding  verses  1  api 
obliged  to  dissent  from  him. 

f  See  Rev.  i.  20; 


ISO 

tent  of  his  dominion  but  tranquillity  and  submission  , 
and  while  the  worthy  and  pious  professors  of  genuine 
Christianity  almost  despaired  of  seeing  that  Reformation, 
on  which  their  most  ardent  desires  and  expectations 
were  bent  :  an  obscure  and  inconsiderable  person  arose 
on  a  sudden,  in  the  year  lol7,  and  laid  the  foundation 
of  the  long  expected  change,  by  opposing  with  undaunt- 
ed resolution  his  single  force  to  the  torrent  of  papal  am- 
bition and  despotism."* 

The  angel  is  represented  as  bearing  the  everlasting 
Gospel — Accordingly  the  Gospel  was  the  only  instru- 
ment which  his  antitype  Luther  used  in  opposing  the 
fury  and  machinations  of  his  enemies,  and  in  spreading 
the  light  of  the  Reformation.  After  the  appearance  of 
a  special  edict  oi  Leo  the  ten*h^  in  which  he  commanded 
his  spiritual  subjects  to  acknowledge  his  power  of  deliv- 
ering from  all  the  punishments  due  to  sin  and  trans- 
gressions of  every  kind,  and  when  the  iniquitous  traffic 
of  indulgences  v*'as  at  its  height ;  then  did  Luther  raise 
his  warning  voice,  and  call  upon  the  whole  earth  to  turn 
away  from  those  vanities  unto  one  God  and  one  media- 
tor between  God  and  man,  to  worship  him  only  who 
made  heaven  and  earth.  Not  content  however  with 
barely  maintaining  this  evangelical  tenet,  he  speedily 
turned  the  powerful  two-edged  sword  of  the  Gospel 
against  his  antagonists,  by  publishing  a  German  transla- 
tion of  the  Bible  ;  "  the  different  parts  of  which,^^  says 
Mosheim,  "  being  successively  and  gradually  spread 
among  the  people,  produced  a  sudden  and  almost  in- 
credible effect,  and  extirpated,  root  and  branch,  the  er- 
roneous principles  and  superstitious  doctrines  of  the 
Church  of  Rome  from  the  minds  of  a  prodigious  number 
of  persons,"  Thus  accurately  did  the  type  of  «/?  angel 
hearing  the  Gospel  answer  to  the  proceedings  of  the 
great  reformer  Luther  :  and  it  is  worthy  of  notice,  that 
the  Reformation  itself,  which  he  was  one  main  cause  of 
introducing,  and  which  was  in  reality  a  republication  of 
the  long-concealed  Gospel,  has  been  actually  so  termed 
in  a  history  of  its  progress  quoted  by  Mosheim. •]*     The 

"  Eccles.  Hist.  Cent.  16.  Sect.  1.  Chap,  2. 

t  Historia  Evanjrelii  renovati 


190 

rapidity,  with  which  it  afterwards  spread  among  the  kin- 
dreds, tongues,  and  nations,  is  sufficiently  well  known  ; 
and  its  progress  is  further  pointed  out  in  the  tijpe  of  the 
tivo  angels,  who  appeared  to  the  prophet  as  closely  fol- 
lowing the  first. 

The  angel  is  seen  tojlij  in  the  midst  of  heaven — In  the 
language  of  symbols,  heaven  signifies  either  the  Church 
or  the  State,  according  as  it  is  taken  in  a  spiritual  or  in  a 
secular  sense.  Now  it  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  in  both 
these  senses  the  type  accurately  corresponds  with  the 
history  of  Luther.  He  was  an  Augustine  monk  ;  and,  at 
the  commencement  of  the  Reformation,  had  not,  like 
the  Waldenses  and  Hussites,  separated  himself  from  tht 
Church  of  Rome.  On  the  contrary,  he  raised  his  voic* 
in  the  very  midst  of  the  ecclesiastical  heaven  ;  and,  at  the 
first,  was  by  no  means  inclined,  either  to  quit  the  com- 
munion, or  directly  to  oppose  the  authorit}^  of  the  Pope, 
Many  prior  attempts  had  been  made  to  bring  about  a  re- 
formation from  ioithout  the  western  Church  :  but  the 
only  one,  which  proved  in  any  degree  successful,  was 
made  from  imihin  it.*  So  again,  \{  the  heaven,  m  which 
the  angel  was  seen  to  fly,  be  understood  in  a  secular 
sense,  the  type  will  in  this  case  also  be  found  equally 
applicable  to  the  Saxon  reformer.  "  Contrary  to  the 
general  fate  of  the  preachers  of  new  tenets,  it  was  Lu- 
ther's lot  to  proclaim  his  doctrine  in  the  midst  oi  the  fig- 
urative /t(?«LT«6",  before  the  emperor  and  the  princes  oj 
the  empire  assembled  in  open  diet.  Patronized  from  the 
first  by  princes,  the  Reformation  was  introduced  into  the 
countries  where  it  took  place  by  the  authority  of  the 
sovereigns  themselves  ;  not  by  a  party  first  gained  among 
the  subjects,  too  powerful  for  the  sovereign  to  resist.^^f 

"And  there  followed  another  angel  saying,  Babylon 
is  fallen,  is  fallen,  that  great  city,  because  she  made  all 
nations  drink  of  the  wine  of  the  wrath  of  her  fornication.'^ 

Bv  this  second  ans^e I  I  conceive  Calvin  and  the  mem- 
bers  of  the  different  reformed:{:  continental  churches  to 

*  I  mean  not  to  say,  that  no  prior  attempts  had  been  made  from  witliin  it,  but 
that  none  had  been  made  successfully. 

f  W^hitaker's  Comment,  p.  432. 
\  I  use  the  word  reformed  as  it  is  familiarly  uscd  iu  contradistinction  to  Luthsia  ■ 


191 

be  peculiarly  intended.  The  preaching  of  Luther,  hos- 
tile as  it  eventually  proved  to  papal  tyranny,  was  not 
originally  so  direct  and  undisguised  an  attack  upon  it  as 
that  of  the  second  angel.  Strongly  under  the  influence 
of  habits  formed  by  a  monastic  education,  he  long  hesi- 
tated entirely  to  throw  off  the  yoke.  When  the  open 
declaration  of  his  opinions  had  raised  him  many  enemies, 
though  he  firmly  refused  to  recant  without  conviction, 
yet  he  addressed  himself  by  letters,  written  in  the  most 
submissive  and  respectful  terms,  to  the  Roman  Pontiff 
and  to  several  of  the  bishops,  shewing  them  the  upright- 
ness of  his  intentions  as  well  as  the  justice  of  his  cause, 
and  declaring  his  readiness  to  change  his  sentiments  as 
soon  as  he  should  see  them  fairly  proved  to  be  erroneous." 
His  own  account  of  the  state  of  his  mind  during  this 
period  will  best  shew  with  what  extreme  difficulty  it  ex- 
tricated itself  from  the  trammels  of  blind  obedience  to 
the  see  of  Rome.  "  I  found  myself,"  says  he,  "  involv- 
ed in  the  controversy  of  indulgences  alone,  and  as  it 
were  by  surprise.  And,  when  it  became  impossible  for 
me  to  retreat,  1  made  many  concessions  to  the  Pope ; 
not  however  in  many  import^t  points  ;  but  certainly, 
at  that  time,  1  adored  him  in  ean1%st.  In  fact  how  de- 
spised and  wretched  a  monk  was  I  then  I  Whereas,  in 
regard  to  the  Pope.,  how  great  was  his  majesty  !  The  po- 
tentates of  the  earth  dreaded  his  nod.  How  distressed 
my  heart  was  in  that  year,  (1517)  and  the  following  ; 
how  submissive  my  mind  vi'as  to  the  hierarchy,  not  feign- 
edly  but  really  !  Nay,  how  I  was  almost  driven  to  de- 
spair through  the  agitations  of  care  and  fear  and  doubt, 
those  secure  spirits  little  know,  who  at  this  day  insult  the 
majesty  of  the  Pope  with  much  pride  and  arrogance  I 
But  I,  who  then  alone  sustained  the  danger,  was  not  so 
certain,  not  so  confident.  I  was  ignorant  of  many  things, 
which  now  by  the  grace  of  God  I  understand.  1  dis- 
puted, and  1  was  open  to  conviction.  Not  finding  satis- 
faction in  the  books  of  theologians  and  canonists,  1  wish- 
ed to  consult  the  living  members  of  the  Church  itself. 
There  were  indeed  some  godly  souls,  who  entirely  ap- 
proved my  propositions  ;  but  I  did  not  consider  their  au- 
thority as  of  weight  with  me  in  spiritual  concerns.      The 


192 

popes,  cm^dinals,  bishops,  and  monks,  were  the  objects  of 
my  confidence.  At  length,  after  I  became  enabled  to 
answer  every  objection  that  could  be  brought  against  me 
from  the  Scriptures,  one  difficulty  still  remained,  and 
only  one  ;  namely,  that  the  Church  ought  to  be  obeyed.* 
By  the  grace  of  Christ,  1  at  last  overcame  this  difficulty 
also."*!*  Such  was  the  conflict  which  took  place  in  the 
mind  of  Luther.  But  Calvin  and  the  succeeding  reform- 
ers treated  the  Church  of  Rome  with  an  indignant  rough- 
ness from  the  very  beginning.  Adopting  the  language 
of  the  VValdenses,  who  had  avowedly  separated  them- 
selves from  her  communion  in  obedience  to  the  prophetic 
exhortation,^  they  scrupled  not  to  apply  to  her  the  name 
of  Babylon,  and  to  denounce  against  her  in  the  words  of 
the  Apocalypse  the  future  dreadful  judgments  of  God. 
"  By  the  same  figure  of  speech,  that  the  first  angel  cried, 
that  the  hour  of  his  judgment  is  come,  this  second  angel 
proclaims,  that  Babylon  is  fallen.  The  sentence  is  as 
certain,  as  if  it  were  already  executed  :"§  whence,  after 
the  manner  of  the  ancient  prophets,  the  present  tense  is 
used  instead  of  the  future. |j  By  the  light  of  Scripture, 
the  daring  usurpations,  the  rank  idolatry,  and  the  blas- 
phemous pretensions  of  the  Papacy  were  detected  and 
exposed.  That  undt-finable  dread  of  its  heavenly  au- 
thority, which  at  first  so  strongly  influenced  the  mind 
ofLuther,was  unknown  and  unfelt  by  subsequent  preach- 
ers ;  and,  in  the  height  of  their  zeal  even  exceeding  their 
warrant,  while  they  justly  branded  Rome  with  the  name 
of  Babiflon,  they  prematurely  stigmatized  the  Pope  with 
that  of  Antichrist. 

"  And  the  third  angel  followed  them,  saying  with  a 
loud  voice,  [f  any  man  worship  the  beast  and  his  image, 
and  receive  his  mark  in  his  forehead,  or  in  his  hand,  the 
same  shall  drink  of  the  vvine  of  God,  which  is  poured  out 
without  mixture  into  the  cup  of  his  indignation  ;  and  he 

*  "  I  saw  another  angel  fly  in  the  midst  of  heaven." 
f  Cited  by  Milner.     Eccles.  Hist.  Vol.  iv.  p.  331. 
i  "  Come  out  of  her,   my  people,  that  ye  be  not  partakers  of  lier  alns,  and  that 
ve  receive  not  of  her  plagues."     Rev.  xviii.  4. 

§  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  Rev.  xiv. 
J  "Babvlon  is  fallen,  is  fallen."    Isaiah  xxi.  9,   See  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  Rev.  xiv. 


19S 

shall  be  tormented  with  fire  and  brimstone,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  holy  angels,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  Lamb. 
And  the  smoke  of  their  torment  ascendeth  up  for  ever 
and  ever,  and  they  have  no  rest  day  nor  night,  who  wor- 
ship the  beast  and  his  image,  and  whosoever  receiveth 
the  mark  of  his  name." 

As  the  first  and  second  angels  represent  tJie  Lutheran 
and  Calvi/iistic  churches  of  the  continent^  so  I  apprehend 
the  third  angel  typifies  tlie  insular  church  of  England  ; 
which  is  not  professedly  in  all  points  either  Lutheran  or 
Calii?iistic,  and  which  has  justly  merited  and  obtained 
the  glorious  title  of  the  buliiHirk  of  the  Reformation* 
The  description,  which  is  given  of  the  office  o{  the  third 
angel^  accurately  corresponds  with  the  part  which  the 
Anglican  church  has  taken  in  the  contest  with  the  ad- 
herents of  Popenj.  For  more  than  a  century  after  the 
Reformation  the  writings  of  the  English  divines  contin- 
ued to  denounce  the  vengeance  of  heaven  against  those 
who  still  partook  of  the  abominations  of  the  apostate  Ro- 
man beast  after  all  the  warnings  which  they  had  receiv- 
ed ;  and  the  ablest  expositors  of  those  prophecies,  which 
relate  to  the  corrupt  tyranny  of  the  mijstic  Babijlon^  have 
been  children  or  fathers  of  our  national  Church.  Of 
these  it  will  be  sufficient  to  mention  the  illustrious  name 
of  Mede  ;  who,  by  his  successful  application  of  many  of 
the  predictions  of  Daniel  and  St.  John  to  Poperif,  loudly 
called  upon  the  whole  world  to  corne  out  of  the  hirlot 
citify  lest  thev  should  "  drink  of  the  wine  of  the  wratli 
ofGod." 

"  Here  is  the  patience  of  the  saints  :  here  are  they, 
that  keep  the  commandments  of  God  and  the  faith  of 
Jesus.  And  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying  unto 
me,  Write,  Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord 
from  henceforth  ;  Yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may 
rest  from  their  labours,  and  their  works  do  follow  them." 

*  The  presbyteral  and  Calvinisiic  church  of  Scct'anJ  must  be  considered  as  a  member 
of  the  second  angel,  inasmuch  as,  although  insular  herself,  she  has  derived  both  her 
discipline  and  doctrine  from  the  reformed  churches  of  the  continent :  while  the  ven- 
erable, though  depressed  episcopal  church  of  Scotland,  may  be  esteemed,  in  a  similar 
manner,  a  member  ci  the  third  angel,  being  the  same  both  in  doctrine  and  discipline 
as  the  church  of  England,  though,  SO  far  ar.  \\e7  prerent  line  of  cpiscopd  succession  is 
concerned,  of  later  origin.     See  Skinner's  Ecclei.  Hiit.  of  .>cat!:  nd. 

VOL.   lU  '25 


194 

Gloriously  successful  as  the  Reformation  eventually 
was,  t|ie  patience  of  the  saints  was  severely  exercised 
during  its  progress.  It  was  a  season  of  great  trial  and 
persecution  :  and  many  of //^c/w  of  understanding  perish- 
ed in  trying,  and  in  purging,  and  in  making  white,  their 
apostate  brethren.*  Great  was  the  increase  which  the 
noble  army  of  the  martyrs  then  received.  They  over- 
came the  dragon^  not  by  the  arm  of  flt-sh,  but  "  by  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  by  the  word  of  their  testimony ; 
and  they  loved  not  their  lives  unto  death, ^'f  Hence  they 
had  need  of  that  consolatory  declaration,  "  Blessed  are 
the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord  from  henceforth."  By  their 
preaching,  the  gloomy  fears  of  purgatory  were  dispelled  ; 
and  the  pious  learned  to  build  with  confidence  upon  the 
assurance  of  the  Spirit,  that,  whenever  they  depart  hence 
and  are  no  more  seen,  "  they  rest  from  their  labours,  and 
their  works  do  follow  them. ^' J 

"  And  I  looked,  and  behold,  a  white  cloud  ;  and  upon 
the  cloud  one  sat,  like  unto  the  Son  of  man,  having  on 
his  head  a  golden  crown,  and  in  his  hand  a  sharp  sickle. 
And  another  angel  came  out  of  the  temple,  crying  with 
a  loud  voice  to  him  that  sat  on  the  cloud,  Thrust  in  thy 
sickle  and  reap  ;  for  the  harvest  of  the  earth  is  ripe.  And 
he,  that  sat  on  the  cloud,  thrust  in  his  sickle  on  the  earth  : 
and  the  earth  was  reaped. 

"  And  another  angel  came  out  of  the  temple  which  is 
in  heaven,  he  also  having  a  sharp  sickle.  And  another 
angel  came  out  from  the  altar,  which  had  power  over  fire  ; 
and  cried  with  a  loud  cry  to  him  that  had  the  sharp  sickle, 
saying,  Thrust  in  thy  sharp  sickle,  and  gather  the  clusters 
of  the  vine  of  the  earth  ;  for  her  grapes  are  fully  ripe. 
And  the  angel  thrust  in  his  sickle  into  the  earth,  and 
gathered  the  vine  of  the  earth,  and  cast  it  into  the  great 
winepress  of  the  wrath  of  God.  And  the  winepress  was 
trodden  without  the  city  ;  and  blood  came  out  of  the 
winepress  even  unto  the  horse  bridles,  by  the  space  of 
a  thousand  and  six  hundred  furlongs.'^ 

*  Dan.  xl.  35.  f  Rev.  xii.  II, 

\  For  the  substance  of  these  remarks  upon  the  characters  of  the  three  angels,  I  am 
indebted  to  Mr.  Whitaker  ;  whose  mode  of  interpreting  this  particular  portion  of 
the  Apocalypse  I  very  much  prefer  to  that  adopted  by  Bp.  Newton.  Sec  Whitaker's 
Comment,  p.  4"0— 4:56. 


19o 

Having  passed  the  epoch  of  the  Reformation,  we  now 
advance  into  the  times  of  God's  last  judgments  upon  his 
enemies,  the  days  of  the   third  xvoe-trumpet.      Tico  re- 
markable periods  of  the  most  conspicuous  of  these  judg- 
ments, the  several  steps  of  the  whole  of  which  are  after- 
wards described  under  ^//^  seven  vials,  are  here  arranged 
under  tico  grand  divisions,  figuratively  styled  the  harvest 
and  the  vintage.     In  the  days  of  Bp.  Newton,  the  third 
icoe-trumpet  had  not  begun  to  sound  ;  none  therefore  of 
the  vials   were  then  poured  out.       Hence  his  Lordship 
justly  observed,  "  What  particular  events  are  signified  by 
this    harvest  and  vintage,  it  appears   impossible   for  any 
man  to  determine  ;  time  alone  can  with  certainty  discov- 
er, for  these  things  are  yet  in  futurity.     Only  it  may  be 
observed,  that  these  two  signal  judgments  will  as  certain- 
ly come,  as  harvest  and  vintage  succeed  in  their  season  ; 
and,  in  the   course  of  providence,   the  one   will  precede 
the  other,  as,  in  the  course  of  nature,  the  harvest  is  before 
the  vintage ;  and  the  latter  will  greatly  surpass  the  form- 
er, and  be  attended  with  a  more  terrible  destruction  of 
God's  enemies."*     But,  although  both  these  signal  judg- 
ments were  future  when  Bp.  Newton  wrote,  it  has  been 
our  lot  to  hear  the  voice  o{the  third  woe,  and  to  behold 
in  the  French  Revolution  the  dreadful  scenes  of  the  har- 
vest.    Still  however  a  more  dreadful  prospect  extends 
before  us.     The  days  of  the  vintage  are  3'et   future  :  for 
the  time  hath  not  yet  arrived,  when  the  great  controver- 
sy of  God  with  the  nations  shall   be  carried  on  between 
the  two  seas,  in  the   neighbourhood  of  the  glorious  holy 
mountain,   m   the  blood-stained  vale  of  Megiddo,  in  the 
land  whose  space   extends  a  thousand  and  six  hundred 
Jurlongs.'\ 

*  Dissert,  ou  Rev.  xiv. 
f  After  a  long  consideration  of  the  subject,  I  rest  in  tlie  opinion  of  Mede,  New- 
ton, Lowman,  Doddridge,  and  Bengelius,  that  the  apocalyptic  havJat  denotes  a  harvest, 
not  of  mercy,  but  of  ivra'.h.  Mr.  Mede,  who  has  elaborately  and  minutely  discussed 
the  point,  observes,  that  the  idea  of  a  harvest  includes  three  things  ,•  //'.-  reaping  cf  tie 
corn,  the  gathering  of  it  in,  and  the  threshing  of  it  :  whence  it  is  made  a  type  in  Scrip- 
ture of  tzuo  direct  opposites  ;  of  destruction,  when  the  reaping  and  the  tbre^hing  are  con- 
sidered ;  of  restitution  and  salvation  when  the  in-gathering  is  considered.  (Comment. 
Apoc.  in  Messem.)  Now  the  context  of  the  apocalyptic  harvest  seems  to  me  most 
defiaitely  to  teach  us,  that  a  harvest  of  judgment  is  intended.  Throuijhout  the  whole 
book  of  Revelation,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  passages  which  sufficiently  explain 
themselves,  the  earth  is  used  as  a  symbol  of  thi  Roman  empire  pagan  and  papal.     Upon 


Such  are  the  contents  oi  the  little  book.  Its  several 
cliapters,  running  parallel  to  each  other  in  point  of  time, 
jointly  furnish  a  complete  prophetic  history  of  the  West- 
tern  Apostacij  during  the  whole  period  oithe  \'2'60  ijears, 
under  all  the  three  zvoe-triinipcfs.  It  principally  howev- 
er exhibits  the  corruptions  of  Poperij  under  the  two  Jirst 
zcoe-trumpefs :  the  third  is  but  briefly  touched  upon,  and 
ihat  only  to  prevent  a  break  in  the  period  oJ'Vli^O  years. 
As  the  little  book  comprehends  the  whole  of  this  period^ 
a  point  which  itself  repeatedly  insists  upon,*  it  was  ne- 

ihh  earth  all  the  •vials  of  God's  Wrath  are  poured  out,  whatever  subsequent  distinction 
may  be  made  in  their  eiFusion.  (Rev.  xvi.  1.)  It  is  the  -vine  of  this  earth  that  is  to 
be  gathered,  when  her  grapes  are  fully  ripe  :  and  it  is  the  ripe  har-vest  of  this  selfsame 
earth  that  is  to  be  reaped,  when  the  time  for  reaping  is  come.  Here  we  may  note, 
that  it  is  not,  as  in  our  l^ord's  parable  (Matt.  xiii.  24,  38.),  said  to  be  the  har'uest  of  a 
f.eld,  which  is  afterwards  formally  explained  to  mean  the  ivhole  -world :  but,  as  the 
sickle  is  thrust  into  the  earth  to  gather  the  iiine  of  the  earth,  so  is  the  sickle  hkewise 
thrust  into  the  earth  to  reap  the  haritest  of  the  earth.  If  then  the  earth  mean  the  Roman 
■empire  in  the  case  of  the  'vintage,  which  cannot  reasonably  be  doubted,  since  those  that 
are  cast  into  the  ivir.epress  are  the  Roman  beast,  the  false  prophet,  and  the  kings  of  that 
same  earth,  and  since  (according  to  the  acknowledged  principles  of  symbolical  im- 
agery) the  -vine  of  the  earth  must  denote  the  corrupt  church  of  the  mystic  Babylon,  whose 
abominations, — whose  ripe  clusters  of  iniquity, — will  eventually  occasion  the  ruin  of 
its  supporter  the  secular  beast  (Dan.  vii.  11.)  :  if,  I  say,  the  earth  mean  the  Roman  em- 
fire  in  the  case  of  the  'vintage,  must  we  not  conclude  from  the  almost  studied  simi- 
larity of  phraseology  used  by  the  prophet,  that  the  earth  means  likewise  the  Roman. 
empire  in  the  case  of  the  bar'uesi  ?  And,  if  this  be  allowed,  what  idea  can  we  annex 
to  the  reaping  of  the  har'uest  of  the  corrupt  Roman  empire,  which,  like  the  grapes  of  that 
same  empire,  is  declared  to  be  ripe,  except  that  of  some  tremendous  judgment  that  should 
precede  the  -vintage  and  more  or  less  afTect  the  "whole  empire  ?  In  such  au  opinion  also 
I  am  the  more  conlirmed  by  finding,  that  a  judgment  about  to  b-fall  Babylon,  the  con- 
stant apocalyptic  type  of  the  Roman  church  and  empire,  is  by  Jeremiah  expressly  term- 
ed a  har'uest.  (See  Jerem.  li.  33.)  This  difference  indeed  there  is  between  the  two 
prophets,  that  Jeremiah  dwells  upon  the  third  part  of  the  harvest,  the  threshing  ;  while 
St.  John  selects  the  imagery  of  the  first  part,  the  reaping :  yet  I  cannot  but  think,  that 
the  context  of  both  passages  sufficiently  shews,  that  a  har-vest  rf judgment ,  not  of  mer- 
cy, is  intended.  The  apocalyptic  harvest,  by  being  confmed  to  the  earth  or  the  Roman 
empire,  cannot  denote  either  the  general  in-gathering  of  fudah  and  Israel,  or  the  uni-versal 
influx  of  the  gentiles  to  the  millennian  church  :  and  since,  like  the  'vintage,  it  is  exclusively 
confined  to  the  idolatn-us  and  persecuting  Roman  empire,  since  in  both  cases  the  sickle  is 
equally  thrust  into  this  empire  ,•  I  feel  myself  compelled  to  conclude,  that,  like  the 
'vintage,  it  denotes  some  signal  judgment.  This  judgment  I  suppose  to  be  the  f.rst  part  of 
the  third  ivce ;  a  luoe,  which  must  be  expected  to  mark  a  period  iii  histor)'  no  less 
striking  than  the  successive  founding  of  the  Saracenic  and  Turlish  empires  ;  a  ivoe, 
which  is  ushered  in  by  an  event  no  less  singular  than  defimte,thefallofa  tenth  part 
of  the  great  Roman  city,  or  of  one  of  the  ten  original  Gothico-Roman  monarchies  by  an  earth- 
quake. "This  judgment  In  short  I  suppose  to  be  the  horrors  of  the  second  French  revolution 
and  its  immediate  consequences,  commencing  on  the  I2ih  of  August  1792,  and  ushered  in 
by  the  fall  of  the  monarchy  both  arbitrary  and  limited  v/hich  at  that  time  was  the  only 
one  that  remained  of  the  ten  original  kingdoms  ;  a  revolution,  which  in  those  consc^ 
quenccs.  Or  (to  adopt  the  prophetic  phraseology)  during  the  reaping  of  the  harvc:t  of  th: 
earth,  has  been  felt  to  the  remotest  parts  of  the  Rowan  empire. 

*  See  Rev.  xi.  2,  3.  xii,  6,  14.  xni.  5. 


197 

cessary  to  notice  the  sounding  o^  the  third  xnwe -l  ruin  pet ; 
which,  like  its  two  fellows,  is  included  in  the  1260  years.* 
The  prophet  therefore  docs  notice  it,  briefly  informing 
us  that  it  should  be  immedietely  preceded,  and  as  it  were 
introduced,  by  a  great  earthcjuake  which  should  occasion 
the  fall  of  a  tenth  part  of  the  Latin  citij  ;  and  that  it  should 
principally  consist  of  tico  tremendous  ntanijfestations  of 
God's  wrath,  tico  seasons  of  peculiar  misery,  the  hardest 
and  the  vintage.  A  more  particular  account  of  these 
matters  he  reserves  for  future  consideration  under  the 
pouring  out  of  the  sei-en  vials  :  and  the  account  itself  he 
places,  not  in  the  little  book^  but  in  the  larger  book  of 
the  Apocalypse,  inasmuch  as  it  concerns  not  merely  the 
xvestern  but  likewise  the  eastern  Apostacif.,  and  affects  in- 
deed more  or  less  even  the  whole  world.  The  loth  chap- 
ter of  the  Revelation  therefore  must  be  considered  as 
chronologically  succeeding  the  9th,  the  intermediate 
chapters  being  a  parenthetical  history  of  the  West,  and 
constituting  what  St.  John  terms  a  little  book  together 
with  an  introduction  to  it.  In  the  9th  chapter,  we  have 
an  account  of  the  tico  first  zcoes  in  the  East :  in  the  loth, 
the  prophet  begins  to  describe  the  effects  Oi  the  last  ccoe. 
Hence  it  is  manifest,  that  the  intermediate  space  must 
necessarily  be  occupied  by  the  little  book  and  its  intro- 
duction. Let  us  now  attend  the  prophet  in  his  account 
of  the  effusion  o^  the  vials,  which  are  all  comprehended 
under  the  third  zcoe,  and  which  must  be  divided  into 
three  classes  :  the  vials  oj  the  harvest,  the  inierniediate 
vials,  and  the  vial  oftlie  vintage. 

*  At  least  so  far  included,  that  six  out  of  its  se-ven  i<ials  are  comprehended  within 
the  \260  years.  The  last  i/ial,  or  that  which  contains  tbe  season  of  the  -vintage,  seems  to 
be  poured  out  as  soon  as  the  1260  years  expire;  and  it  coincides  with  what  Daniel 
calls  the  time  of  the  end,  or  the  period  of  God's  great  controversy  -with  the  natiws,- 


198 


CHAPTER    XI. 


Concerning  llie  elfects  of' the  last  zvoe-truuipel,  the  puuring 
out  of  the  seven  vials,  a?id  the  restoration  oj'  the  Jews.  - 

THE  prophet,  having  separately  detailed  the  €{•- 
fects  of  the  tzoo  first  looe-trumpets  in  the  East  and  in  the 
West,  and  having  briefly  touched  upon  the  sounding  oi 
the  third,  now  proceeds  to  give  us  a  nriore  full  account 
of  the  miseries  which  it  should  produce.  For  this  pur- 
])0sc  he  divides  it  into  seven  periods,  which  he  distin- 
guishes by  the  pouring  out  o'i  seven  vials ;  and,  to  shew 
us  that  they  are  all  comprehended  under  tJie  last  ivoe- 
triunpet  the  commencement  of  the  blast  of  which  he  had 
already  announced,  he  styles  them  the  seven  last  plagues. 
They  are  \\\  fact  the  same,  1  apprehend,  as  the  seven  thun- 
ders, the  roll  of  which  St.  John  heard,  when  he  had  fin- 
ished his  account  oi  the  secofid  za'oe-trumpit  vca  af^'icUn^ 
the  East.  Conceiving  rightly  that  in  point  of  time  they 
were  the  next  in  order  to  the  events  which  he  had  last 
detailed,  he  seems  to  have  supposed  that  they  were  imme- 
diutelii*  to  succeed  them,  and  therefore  prepared  himself 
to  write  their  history  :  but  the  great  angel,  having  yet  to 
reveal  to  him  the  contemporary  effects  of  ^/ze' ^rco  ;f/-5/ 
zi-oe-trumpcts  in  the  West  and  to  bring  down  the  second 
woe-trumpet  to  its  complete  termination,  commanded 
hjm  to  "  seal  them  up  and  to  write  them  not  ;"  swear- 
ing solemnly  by  the  Almighty,  that  "  their  time  was  not 
vet,  but  in  the  days  of  the  voice  of  the  seventh  angel." 
Those  days  are  now  come.  VYe  have  seen,  that  the  great 
earthquake  at  the  close  oi'  the  second  woe  is  the  French 
revolution  in  the  year  17^9  :  and  we  have  likewise  seen, 
that  the  third  -woe  came  quickly  after  in  the  year  1792, 
when  the  reign  of  Gallic  liberty  and  equality  commenc- 
ed. Then  it  was,  that  the  voice  of  the  seventh  angel,  or 
the  third  woe-angel,   began   to   be  heard  :  consequently 

•  TIu'  9th  chapter  of  the  Revciiition  termliKites  in  the  year  1G72  with  the  siege 
of  Camcniec ;  namely  at  the  end  of  the  hour,  the  day,  the  month,  and  the  year,  for  which 
tic  Turkish  horsemen  had  been  prepared  :  wliercas  the  second  ivoe  does  not  terminate 
till  llje  \'car  178!);  -jiwd,  the  third  iluc  \\\\\a\\  comprehends  the  seven  vials,  docs  not 
begin  to  sound,  Vm.,the year  1792. 


199 

we  may  then  expect,  that  the  seven  thunders  would  be- 
gin to  roar,  and  that  the  seven  vials  full  of  the  last  plagues 
of  an  offended  God  would  begin  to  be  poured  out.* 

The  history  o^  the  tzcojirst  zi)oe-trumpets  is  given  in  a 
two-fold  order ^  as  affecting  equally  both  the  East?ind  the 
West :  but  the  history  of  the  third  is  given  only  in  a  sin- 
gle order,  inasmuch  as  some  of  its  vials  are  poured  upou 
the  one  branch  of  the  Roynan  empire,  and  others  upon  the 
other  branch  ;  o// of  them  not  equally  extending  to  the 
xvhole  empire,  as  was  the  case  with  the  first  and  second 
zcoe-trumpeis.  It  may  likewise  be  observed,  that  the 
contents  of  one  vial  are  not  represented  as  being  fullu 
poured  out  before  another  begins  to  be  emptied  ;  though 
it  is  evident,  that  they  commence  in  regular  chronological 
succession.  In  this  respect  there  is  a  striking  difference 
between  the  vials  and  the  in'oe-trumpets.  We  are  expli- 
citly informed  by  the  prophet,  that  the  blast  oi  the  first 
iL'oe-trumpet  entirely  ceases  before  the  second  begins  to 
■sound  ;  and  that  of  the  second,  in  a  similar  manner,  before 
the  third  begins  to  sound  rf  but  it  is  no  where  said,  that 
each  vial  is  emptied,  before  its  successor  begins  to  be 
po4jred  out.  Hence  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  conclude, 
that  two  or  more  of  the  vials  may  be  pouring  out  at  the 

''  Mr.  'W'hitakier  singularly  fancies,  that  the  last  tvoe-fruir.pd  or  the  seventh  irii?!:J>H 
\i  the  same  as  the  last  trump  at  the  day  of  judgment  mentioned  by  St.  Paul.  I  have  not 
met  with  any  commentator  who  agrees  with  him  in  this  opinion,  except  the  JsEuit 
Cornelius  a  Lapide.  As  for  the  ijials,  he  supposes  many  of  them  to  have  been  long 
since  poured  out ;  and  maintains  that  they  will  ail  be  poured  out  before  the  sound- 
ing oiibe  last  Tuoe,  "  after  which  he  has  never  been  taught  to  look  for  any  thing  but 
tiie  resurrection  and  its  awful  consequences."  Thus  he  plainly  makes  the  seven  last 
plagues  precede  the  last  tvoe  ;  and  teaches  us  that  the  last  of  the  three  •zfoes,  vvhcreot" 
the  txuo  first  are  the  woes  of  the  Saracens  and  the  Turl:,  is  the  making  all  the  kingdoms  cf 
this  -world  the  kingdi^rAs  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ.  This  I  have  ever  been  accustomed 
to  consider  as  a  blessing  rather  than  a  icoe  :  whence  I  have  been  induced  to  prefcr 
t!ie  opinion  of  Mr.  Mede,  Bp.  Newton,  and  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  to  that  of  Mr.  Whitaker 
and  Cornelius  a  Lapide;  namely  that  the  ivcefd part  oi the  scjenth  trumpet  precedc-i 
its  joyful  part,  and  that  it  will  bring  much  misery  upon  the  earth  ere  the  nation^ 
are  converted  to  Christianity  and  brought  into  the  pale  of  the  Millennian  Church. 
Since  moreover  the  seventh  trumpet  is  represented  as  the  last  tvoe,  and  since  the  sev:.: 
■vials  are  said  to  be  the  list  plagues,  I  conclude  vv-itli  Bp.  Nevi^ton  that  they  Tnv.si 
synchronize  :  otherwise  there  will  be  tivo  last  displays  of  God's  wrath.  Mr.  Whit- 
aker says,  that  the  setien  'i-ials  are  denominated  the  laA  plagues  because  in  them  is  filled 
up  the  wrath  of  God  ;  and  thinks,  that  w^e  ought  to  be  cautious  of  considering  them 
as  termed  last  merely  in  point  of  time.     Bp.  Nev/tf<n,  on  the  contrary,  argues,  th;;t 

X\\e\  musthelait   in  point  of  time  ;    bccause  the  wratll  of  God   would   ;/<;/ be   ililed  Uji 

in  them,  if  there  were  others  beside  them.     Sec  Mr.  V/iiitaker's  letter  lo  Dr.  Ogilvie, 
p.  ?•?>  -Cc^mment,  p.  445 — Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  Rev.  xv. 
f  See  Rev.  ir,  12,  l.O.  ;md  xi.  1  I,  !.■. 


200 

same  time,  though  the  effusion  of  one  commenced  before 
that  of  another. 

Besides  the  division  of  the  third  zvoc-trumpet  into  the 
seven  vials,  it  is  represented  as  comprehending  hkewise 
i:i)o  grand  periods  of  pecuhar  distress,  figuratively  term- 
ed by  St.  John  the  harvest  and  tlie  vintage.  The  harvest 
occupies,  1  conceive,  the  beginning  of  the  third  zvoe-tiuni- 
pet,  or  the  earlier  part  of  the  last  duijs  of  atheistical  infi- 
delity. It  symbolizes  the  miseries  inflicted  upon  man- 
kind by  the  iyrmmy  oi  Antichrist,  and  synchronizes  with 
the  first  half  of  Daniel's  account  of  the  king  who  magni- 
fied himself  above  every  god.*  This  period  comprehends 
the  three  first  vials.  The  vintage,  on  the  other  hand,  oc- 
cupies the  termination  of  the  third  ■m^oe-trumpet,  or  the 
time  ofthe  end.  It  relates  to  the  great  controversy  of  God 
with  the  nations,  and  the  entire  overthrow  o{  Popery  and 
Infidelitij.  This  period  synchronizes  with  the  second  half 
of  Daniel's  account  of  the  atheistical  king  ;'\  and  is  com- 
prehended under  the  seventh  vial,  the  vial,  as  it  may  be 
termed,  oj^  consummation.  The  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth, 
vials  are  poured  out  in  the  intermediate  space  between  the 
vials  of  the  harvest  and  the  vial  of  the  vintage  ;  and  the 
/«6'/ of  these  three  may  be  considered  as  preparing  the 
way  for  the  final  manifestation  of  God's  wrath.  Thus  it 
appears,  that,  agreeably  to  the  analogy  of  the  natural  har- 
vest and  vintage,  some  time  will  intervene  between  the 
figurative  harvest  and  vintage  ;  that  this  time  will  be 
marked  by  the  pouring  out,  at  certain  indefinite  periods, 
oK  the  fourth,  the  fifth,  and  the  sixth,  vials;  and  that  at 
length,  when  the  mijsfery  of  God  is  about  to  be  accom- 
plished, when  theicaters  of  the  Euphrates  are  completely 
tiricd  up,  when  a  way  has  been  prepared  for  the  kings  of 
the  East,  and  when  the  great  confedcracif  has  begun  to 
l>e  put  iu  motion  by  the  secret  agency  of  the  three  un- 
<-leai)  spirits,  the  last  tremendous  vial  of  the  vintage  will, 
be  poiu'ed  out  at  the  close  of  the  1'260  i/cars. 

Subsequent  to  his  account  oi'  t/ie  seven  vials,  St.  John 
2,ives  us  a  more  enlarged  prophetic  history  of  the  vintage, 
prefacing  it  with  a  description  of  the  scarlet  zchore  pre- 

■'   Dan.  xi.  SG^Sp.  f  Dan.  xi,  -10— 1".  sli.  1. 


901 

vious  to  her  being  overtaken  by  the  judgments  of  God. 
The  events,  which  he  particularizes,  are  the  overthrow  of 
JBubylon,  the  battle  of  the  kings  of  the  earthy  and  the  utter 
destruction  of  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet.  All  these 
events  are  to  be  comprehended  under  the  last  vial,  as  is 
manifest  from  this  consideration.  The  seven  vials  are 
expressly  said  to  be  the  last  plagues  :  but,  if  the  events 
in  question  be  not  comprehended  under  some  one  of 
them,  the  vials  certainly  are  not  the  last  plagues ;  be- 
cause, in  that  case,  they  will  be  pi^ior  to  those  events  : 
whence  1  conclude,  that  the  events  must  necessarily  be 
couiprehended  under  some  one  of  them.  But,  since  the 
events  are  described  as  terminating  the  present  order  of 
things  previous  to  the  Millennium,  and  since  the  last 
vial  of  the  last  trumpet  of  the  last  seal  cannot  but  be 
considered  as  the  vial  of  consummation,  the  events  must 
unavoidably  belong  to  the  last  vial. 

These  preliminary  observations  being  made,  I  shall 
proceed  to  a  particular  consideration  of  each  distinct  vial, 

SECTION    I. 

Concerning  the  vials  of  the  harvest. 

The  two  first  woe-trumpets  described  the  rise  of  the 
two-fold  Apostacif,  Papal  ■And  Mohammedan,  and  the  plen- 
itude of  power  to  which  it  speedily  attained  :  the  third 
introduces  the  reign  of  Antichrist ;  and,  after  having  fore- 
told under  the  vials  of  the  harvest  the  miseries  with 
which  he  should  afflict  mankind,  predicts  under  the  vial 
of  the  vintage  the  downfall  of  the  Apostacy  and  the  total 
overthrow  of  all  God's  enemies. 

We  have  already  seen,  that  the  third  woe-trumpet  be- 
gan to  sound  on  the  \2th  of  August  1792,  immediately 
after  the  limited  monarchy  of  France  was  overthrown, 
and  when  the  tyrannical  reign  of  liberty  and  equality 
commenced.  This  oeing  the  case,  we  must  look  for  the 
pouring  out  of  all  the  seven  vials,  which  form  so  many 
distinct  periods  of  the  third  zvoe-trumpef,  posterior  to  the 
12//*  of  August  1792  ;  observing  however,  that  the  har- 
vest itself  must  be  considered  as  commencing,  not  merely 

VOL.  II.  26 


202 

with  the  first  i;m/,  but  with  the  eadiest  blast  oithe  trum- 
pet^ and  that  the  miseries  previously  produced  by  the 
fall  of  the  tenth  part  of  the  Latin  city  may  be  esteemed 
(to  make  the  allegory  complete)  the  Jirst  fruits  of  the 
harvest. 

*'  And  I  heard  a  great  voice  out  of  the  temple,  saying 
to  the  seven  angels,  Go  your  ways,  and  pour  out  the 
vials  of  the  wrath  of  God  upon  the  earth.  And  the  first 
went,  and  poured  out  his  vial  upon  the  earth  :  and  there 
fell  a  noisome  and  grievous  sore  upon  the  men  which 
had  the  mark  of  the  beast,  and  upon  them  which  wor- 
shipped his  image." 

The  earth  is  the  Roman  empire  :  the  men,  zvho  bear  the 
mark  of  the  beast  and  zvoi'ship  his  image,  are  the  once  su- 
perstitious, but  nozo  atheistical,  members  of  the  Latin  Em- 
pire and  Church  :  and  the  noisome  and  grievous  sore, 
which  is  represented  as  first  openly  breaking  out  after 
the  great  earthquake  which  overthrew  a  tenth  part  of 
the  city,  and  after  the  commencement  of  the  reign  of 
anarchy  at  the  first  blast  of  the  third  zvoe-trumpet,  is  the 
delusive  spirit  of  atheism,  or  that  gross  lie  of  Antichrist 
the  denial  of  the  Father  and  the  Son.'* 

Since  this  imagery  is  borrowed  from  natural  maladies, 
for  the  right  understanding  of  it  we  must  consider  how 
such  maladies  operate  upon  the  human  frame.  As  the 
humom's  then,  which  at  length  producer -s-or^  in  the  body 
natural,  secretly  work  for  some  time  previous  to  their 
eruption  ;  so  the  humoms,  which  produced  ihisfgurafive 
sore  in  the  body  politic,  had  long  been  concocting  previ- 
ous to  its  open  appearance.  Atheism  indeed  existed  in 
the  very  days  of  the  Apostles  ;  for  even  then  were  there 
7nany  antichrists,  even  then  was  the  spirit  of  Antichrist 
in  the  world :  but  it  began  to  be   more  systematically 

*  This  mode  of  expression  is  perfectly  agreeable  to  tlie  scriptural  practice  of 
describing  spiritual  by  natural  maladies.  (See  Isaiah  i.  5,  6.)  Sir  Isaac  Nekton 
supposes,  that  "  a  duralU  plague  of  ivar  is  signified  by  a  sore  and  pain  ;"  and  Mr. 
Bicheno  has  followed  him  in  tiiis  opinion,  applying  the  eflusion  of  the  first  'vial, 
which  he  thinks  like  myself  was  poured  out  in  the  auLumn  of //'i'  year  1792,  to  the 
calamities  which  the  confederates  of  Pilnitz  experienced  from  the  arms  of  the  French 
republic.  But  I  cannot  find,  that  we  liave  any  authority  for  annexing  such  an  idea 
to  the  word  sere.  In  2  Chron.  vi.  28,  it  is  used  in  a  general  sense,  including  war 
indeed,  but  including  likewise  many  other  calamities.  Signs  of  the  times,  Part.  IH. 
p.  165,  1G7. 


903 

disseminated  by  the  dragon,  that  original   father  of  all 
lies,  when  he  quitted  his  old  station  in  the  figurative 
heaven  oithe  Latin  church,  and  took  a  more  advantageous 
position  upon  the  earth.     For  a  season  the  noisome  sore 
broke  out  only  upon  a  few  individuals  :  but,  in  the  course 
of  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  centunj,  the  infernal 
ingenuity  of  Voltaire  and   his  associates  spread //^e />o/- 
sonous  humour  far  and  wide  throughout  Europe.      Still 
however  we  did  not  behold  the  full  effect  of  the  devil's 
labours  upon  the  Roman  earth.     According  to  the  sure 
word  of  prophecy,   the  great  earthquake  of  the  French 
Revolution  was  to  take  place  in  the  year  1789,  and  the 
third  x<i)oe-trumpet  was  pubhcly  to  introduce  the  anar- 
chical principles   oi  Antichrist  on  the    I2th  oj"  August 
1792,  ere  the  noisome  sore  of  Atheism  broke  out   under 
the  first  vial.     But,  when  that  memorable  \'2th  of  Au- 
gust was  past,  and  when  on  the  no  less  memorable  26/A 
of  the  same  month  an   open  profession  of  Atheism   was 
made  by  a  whole  nation  once  zealously  devoted  to  the 
papal  superstition,   then   was   the  first  vial  poured  out 
upon  the  earth,  then  commenced  the  eruption  oi  the  noi- 
.some  sore.    At  this  period,  in  consequence  of  the  success 
o^ theFrench  revolution,  corresponding  societies  and  athe- 
istical clubs  were  every  where  held  fearlessly  and  undis- 
guisedly.     All  Europe  seemed  to  have  drunk  deep  of  the 
cup  of  trembling.     Scarcely  a  Christian  was  to  be  found 
within  the  limits  of  the  papal  Latin  earth  :  and,  in  prot- 
estant  countries,  many,  who  had   clean  escaped  from 
them  that  live  in  error,   had  been  allured,  through  the 
lusts  of  the  flesh,  by  vain  promises  of  liberty,  of  a  law- 
less freedom  from  all  restraint  both  civil  and  religious, 
to  forsake  the  religion  of  their  fathers.      At  this  period 
moreover,  the  project  of  converting  all  the  kingdoms  of 
the  earth  into  atheistical  republics  framed  after  the  model 
of  the  misshapen  democracy  of  France,  was  unreservedly 
and  triumphantly  avowed  by  infidel  demagogues,  and 
loudly    and    incessantly  applauded    by    the    populace 
throughout  if//e  whole  great  Roman  city.     When  all  these 
signs  of  the  times  concurred  together,  when  the  poisonous 
humours  were  perfectly  concocted,  then  it  was  that  the 
noisome  sore  broke  out.      The  principles  of  Antichrist 


204- 

were  now  publicly  developed  in  the  face  of  the  whole 
world  :  and,  since  all  the  prophetic  periods  of  the  Apoc- 
alypse are  dated,  not  from  the  secret  cogitations  of  the 
heart  which  are  known  only  to  the  Almighty,  but  from 
some  overt  and  prominent  display  of  those  cogitations  re- 
duced to  actual  practice  and  manifested  to  the  eyes  of  all 
men  ;  to  what  era  shall  we  look  for  the  first  undisguised 
aval's  al  of  national  Atheism,  for  the  first  open  eruption  of 
the  noisome  sore  predicted  under  this  via/,  except  the  26th 
of  August  1792,  on  which  day  the  denial  of  a  God  was 
for  the  first  time  formally  established  by  law  / 

"  And  the  second  angel  poured  out  his  vial  upon  the 
sea  :  and  it  became  as  the  blood  of  a  dead  man  ;  and  ev- 
ery living  soul  died  in  the  sea." 

The  pouring  out  of  this  t'/«/ immediately  succeeds  that 
of  the  first :  and  it  relates,  I  conceive,  to  the  dreadful 
massacres  of  revolutionary  France  which  commenced  ear- 
ly in  the  September  of  the  year  1792  ;*  massacres,  which, 
extending  from  the  metropolis  to  the  provinces,  convert- 
ed that  unhappy  country  into  one  great  slaughter-house. 
The  sea  symbolizes  a  nation  in  a  violent  state  of  efferves- 
cence and  revolution :  and,  when  it  is  said  to  become  as 
the  blood  of  a  dead  man,  we  are  evidently  led  to  con- 
clude, that  the  nation  thus  convulsed  with  intestine  dis- 
cord is  deeply  stained  with  the  blood  of  its  slaughtered 
citizens.  That  such  has  been  in  an  eminent  degree  the 
case  with  France,  in  consequence  of  her  being  infected 
"with  the  noisome  sore  of  Atheism,  we  have  all  unhappily 
beheld,  as  it  were,  with  our  own  eyes.  We  have  seen 
murder  accumulated  upon  murder;  and  the  life  of  man, 
which  every  civilized  legislature  has  hitherto  regarded  of 
the  utmost  importance,  considered  as  a  thing  of  no  val- 
ue. Of  so  little  consequence  did  it  appear  in  the  eyes 
of  Marat,  the  friend  of  the  people,  that  he  scrupled  not 
to  assert,  that,  in  order  to  cement  liberty,  the  national 
club  ought  to  strike  off  200,000  heads.     During  the  reign 

*  The  massacre?,  which  took  place  hefoie  this  time,  are  not  comprehended  undcj- 
fhe  seccnd  -vial,  because  they  were  perpetrated  >i;ri'/o«i  to  the  5onndi\ng  oi  the  third  -woc- 
trumpct  on  the  Vlth  of  Augr.it  1792.  They  belong  on  the  contrary  to  the  great  earih~ 
quake  of  the  first  revolution,  which  commenced  in  the  year  1789,  and  the  last  shock 
ot  which  produced  together  with  the  downtall  of  the  limited  monarchy  of  France 
fhe  atrocities  of  the  IQth  vf  August  17V'J. 


205 

of  terror^  as  it  was  emphatically  termed,  "  the  revolu- 
tionary tribunal  added  daily,  for  a  long  time,  new  vic- 
tims to  the  thousands  who  had  fallen  on  the  fatal  days 
of  August  and  September.  Here  the  mockery  of  justice 
was  complete;  for,  in  the  cond«^mnation  of  tlie  accused, 
the  conviction  of  the  jury,  without  the  examination  of 
witnesses  or  even  the  confession  of  the  prisoner,  was 
declared  sufficient  to  establish  guilt."  As  for  the  privi- 
lege of  extending  mercy  to  the  condemned,  it  was  con- 
temptuously disclaimed  :  and  all  applications  for  pardon 
were  rejected  with  the  declaration,  that  the  enlightened 
government  of  republican  France  possessed  no  such 
power.*  It  was  esteemed  indeed  a  sufficient  crime  to  be 
suspected  of  being  a  suspicious  person.  "  In  such  a 
state  of  society,  when  fortune,  honour,  and  life,  depend- 
ed upon  the  caprice  of  sanguinary  individuals,  it  is  not 
surprising  that  private  assassinations  were  frequently 
perpetrated  with  impunity  ;  and,  from  the  torpor  andin- 
sensibilitij  that  prevailed, f  were  regarded  as  trivial  acts. 
Suicide  likewise  became  the  resource  of  the  unfortunate, 
especially  of  those  who  had  renounced  every  idea  of  re- 
ligion, of  the  superintendance  of  a  Providence,  and  of  a 
future  existence.  Thus  those,  who  escaped  from  the 
tribunal  of  the  ruling  faction,  perished  by  their  own 
hands.  Valaze  stabbed  himself;  Echelle  and  Condorcet 
preferred  poison  ;  L^Huillier  killed  himself  in  prison  ; 
Rebecqui  drowned  himself :  they  were  both  agents  in 
the  atrocities  of  Avignon,  and  the  second  of  Sejdemhcr. 
Hidon,  and  the  academician  Champfort,  fell  by  their 
own  hands.  Such  also  was  the  end  of  Roland,  who  was 
one  of  the  principal  actors  in  the  revolution  of  Me  ieJith 
of  August — In  the  short  space  of  two  years,  almost  every 
individual  of  the  principal  actors  in  that  revolution  was 
brought  to  a  violent  end.     Danton  and  Westerman,  the 

*  "  I  fly  far  off,"  said  the  poet  Klopstock,  "  from  the  cries  of  that  execrable 
tribunal,  which  murders,  not  only  the  victim,  but  which  murders  also  the  mercy  ot' 
the  people."  Well  then  might  Dumourier  observe  in  his  address  to  his  own  coun- 
trjTTien,  "  If  the  despotism  of  a  single  individual  be  dangerous  to  libertv,  how  much 
more  odious  must  be  that  of  seven  hundred  men,  many  of  whom  are  void  ot 
principles,  without  morals,  and  who  have  been  able  to  reach  that  supremacy  by 
pabals  or  crimes  alone." 

f  — "  it  became  as  the  blood  of  a  d^ad  man^^ 


206 

one  who  directed,  and  the  other  who  executed,  the  coun- 
sels of  the  insuro:ents,  perished  on  the  same  day,  and  on 
the  same  scaffold.  A  similar  tate  befell  many  of  those, 
who  decreed  the  death  or  imprisonment  of  the  king. 
Of  the  693  members  of  the  Convention,  who  voted  that 
the  king  was  guilty,  seven  were  assassinated,  eight  were 
suicides,  thirty-four  were  proscribed,  ninety-two  were 
imprisoned,  and  sixty-five  were  guillotined.  The  addi- 
tion of  those,  who  have  since  suffered  in  various  ways, 
will  swell  this  account  to  a  far  greater  number,  T/nts, 
for  a  considerable  time^  in  the  interior  of  France  each 
recent  event  surpassed  in  horror  that  which  preceded  if  ; 
and  the  metropolis  zcas  the  centre  of  massacre^  atheism, 
and  anarchy.  The  conduct  of  the  governors  and  the  gov- 
erned  zvas  equallij  an  outrage  to  all  decorum^  humanitij, 
and  consistency  of  conduct — In  short,  it  appears,  that 
there  have  been  two  millions  of  persons  murdered  in 
France,  since  it  has  called  itself  a  republic.^'*  After 
the  downfall  of  Robespierre,  the  effusion  of  blood  began 
to  abate  :  lor  the  vial  of  the  second  angel  was  then  ex- 
hausted. France,  however,  was  previously  converted 
into  a  vast  Aceldama;  or,  to  use  the  strong  language  of 
prophecy,  its  revolutionarif  sea  "  became  as  the  blood  of 
a  dead  man,  and  every  living  soul  died  in  the  sea"\ 

"  And  the  third  angel  poured  out  his  vial  upon  the 
rivers  and  fountains  of  waters,  and  they  became  blood. 
And  I  heard  the  angel  of  the  waters  say,  Thou  art  right- 
eous, O  Lord,  which  art,  and  wast,  and  shalt  be,  because 
thou  hast  judged  thus.  For  they  have  shed  the  blood 
of  saints  and  prophets,  and  thou  hast  given  them  blood 
to  drink  ;  for  they  are  worthy.  And  1  heard  another 
out  of  the  altar  sa}^  Even  so.  Lord  God  Almighty,  true 
and  righteous  are  thy  judgments.^* 

As  the  sea  signifies  a  nation  in  a  violent  state  of  revO" 

'■  Kelt's  Hist,  the  Inter.  Vol.  ii.  p.  243 — 252. 

f  Ml".  Eiclier.o  supposes  this  second  vial  to  have  begun  to  be  poured  out  on  the 
■  sea  ill  the  yea;-  1793,  when,  as  he  thinks  proper  to  express  it,  "  the  maritime  coun- 
tries joined  the  Antichristian  tyrants  in  their  crusade  against  the  hberties  of  France, 
ftnd  when  the  naval  power  of  Europe  was  put  into  motion."  (Signs  of  the  times, 
Part  iii.  p.  168.)  He  has  no  warrant  for  explaining  a  symbolical  prophecy  literally  ; 
more  especially  since  he  himself  had  explained  the  effusion  pf  tbefrst  vial  not  liifrsHy 
but  syrr.bolically. 


207 

lutionary  tumult^  so  rivers  and  fountains  symbolize  king- 
doms and  their  heads  existing  in  the  opposite  state  of  a 
regular  and  settled  government.  These  mystic  streams 
are  the  different  jjowers  of  the  papal  Latin  empire ;  which 
were  now  to  receive,  by  the  unheard  of  inroads  of  a  bar- 
barous republican  enemy,  the  due  reward  of  their  former 
persecutions  of  the  saints.  By  a  long  and  bloody  war, 
the  whole  constitution  of  the  Germanic  hodij  has  been 
-shaken  to  its  very  centre  ;  and  its  emperor^  the  successor 
and  representative  of  Charles  thefifth  that  great  enemy 
of  the  witnesses^  and  of  the  perjured  Sigismimd  that 
wretched  tool  of  papal  malice,  trembling  for  the  safety 
of  his  capital,  has  been  compelled  to  sue  for  an  ignomin- 
ious peace  with  the  republic  of  France.  In  the  course 
of  the  same  war,  papal  Italy  has  been  overrun  and  pil- 
laged of  every  thing  valuable  :  Savoy.,  the  ancient  parent 
and  persecutor  of  the  Waldenses,  has  been  wrested  from 
its  sovereign,  nothing  in  a  manner  being  left  to  him  but 
the  empty  title  of «  king:  Spain,  after  suffering  for  a 
time  the  horrors  of  war,  has  been  reduced  in  etiect  to  the 
state  of  a  mere  vassal  province  of  France  :  the  renegado 
inhabitants  of  the  united  provinces,  who  preferred  their 
pelf  to  their  God,  and  whose  polluted  presses  had  long 
teemed  with  the  blasphemous  productions  of  Voltaire 
and  his  associates,  have  been  first  duped  into  a  revolu- 
tion, and  have  ever  since  been  plundered  and  harassecl 
by  their  unrelenting  tyrants  :  and  the  Helvetic  confede- 
racy, in  name  partly  papal  and  partly  protestant,  but  in 
reality  tainted  with  atheism  to  its  very  core,*  has  been 
dissolved  ;  its  citizens  have  been  massacred  ;  and  its  ter- 
ritory has  been  plundered,  by  the  infernal  cruelty  and 
harpy  rapacity  of  republican  banditti.  Future  historians 
will  speak  of  this  unparalleled  war  with  astonishment. 
They  will  describe  Europe  as  bleeding  at  every  pore,  and 
trembling  for  the  fate  of  every  civilized  government. 
They  will  detail  battle  after  battle,  massacre  after  massa- 
cre, campaign  after  campaign.     They  will  represent  fer- 

*  "  Holland  ■v.'s.s  the  grand  asylum  of  infidelity  in  the  North,  the  nursery  and  chief 
propagator  of  its  works  by  the  licentious  liberty  allowed  to  the  press"— and,  as  for 
Switzerland,  D'Alembert  and  Voltaire  boasted,  that  « in  Calvin's  own  town  there 
were  but  a  few  beggarly  fellows  who  believed  in  Christ,  and  that  from  Gen:va  to 
Birne  not  a  Cliristian  was  to  be  f^uad." 


208 

tile  provinces  wasted  with  fire  and  sword  :  and  they  vvill 
speak  with  horror  of  rapes,  and  murders,  of  pillage  and 
extortion,*  of  prisoners  deliberately  put  to  death  in  cold 
blood,  and  of  wounded  soldiers  systematically  poisoned 
by  their  apostate  commander.  But,  while  they  present 
this  dreadful  scroll  of  human  calamities  to  the  sickening- 
attention  of  posterity,  they  will  not  fail  to  attest,  that 
these  heavy  judgments  of  the  Lord  have  principally 
fallen  upon  the  rivers  and  fount  ulns  of  the  papal  Roman 
empire.  Protestant  states^  that  have  in  any  measure  pre- 
served the  faith  of  their  ancestors,  have  in  a  manner  been 
exempt.  Self-defence  and  wanton  provocations  compell- 
ed England  to  enter  into  the  contest.  Her  firmness,  un- 
der Providence,  blasted  all  the  designs  of  her  malicious 
enemy  against  herself;  and  drove  him  back  to  his  own 
shores  disgraced  and  vanquished,  with  his  navy  shattered 
and  with  his  mariners  disheartened.  But  her  hapless 
allies,  already  devoted  by  the  just  judgment  of  God  to 
drink  in  their  turn  torrents  of  blood,  inasmuch  as  they 
have  heretofore  profusely  shed  the  blood  of  saints  and 
prophets,  it  exceeded  her  power  to  save.  The  mighty 
arm  of  the  Lord  snatched  her  from  impending  destruc- 
tion, and  withered  the  boasted  strength  of  her  foe  when 
directed  against  herself:  but  the  angel  of  the  waters, 
while  she  was  preserved  in  the  midst  of  wide-extending 
havock  and  desolation,  sternly  denounced  the  vengeance 
of  heaven  against  her  popish  confederates.     "  They  have 

*  Such  was  the  rapacity  of  the  republican  tyrants,  that  "  two  years  had  been  suf- 
ficient to  place  the  countries  conquered  by  France,"'  the  Netherlands,  Holland,  and 
the  states  situated  between  the  Meuse  and  the  Rhine,  "  on  a  level  with  herself,  and 
to  reduce  them  to  one  common  equality  of  death  and  misery — These  countries,  but 
a  short  time  before  so  rich  and  so  abundant,  were  exhausted"  by  bearing  the  whole 
Inirden  of  maintainino;  the  French  army  ;  "  their  whole  specie  was  absorbed  by  con- 
tributions, their  manufactures  were  suspended,  and  their  produce  consumed."  (Hist, 
of  the  Campaign  of  1796.  p.  4.)  The  same  work  contains  a  very  full  account  of 
the  various  robberies  systematically  committed  by  the  French  in  Germany  and  Italy. 
(Seep.  44,  70,  241,  247,  249,  250,  254,  256,  364,  S65,  366.)  In  short,  the  or- 
der given  by  the  Directory  to  their  generals  was,  that  "  they  should  maintain  their 
troops  by  victory ;"  an  order  so  faithfully  obeyed  by  Buonaparte,  that  he  "  had  no 
hesitation  to  say,  in  the  proclamation  which  he  made  to  his  soldiers  in  entering  into 
Carynthia,  that  all  the  expences  of  the  army  of  Italy,  during  eleven  months,  had 
been  paid  by  the  conquered  countries,  and  that  he  had  besides  sent  30  millions  of 
livres  to  France."  (Ibid.  p.  5,  366.)  These  were  some  of  the  blessings  of  republi- 
can fraternity ! 


209 
••• • 

shed  the  blood  of  saints  and  prophets,  and  thou  hast 
given  them  blood  to  drink ;  for  they  are  worthy."* 

From  what  has  been  said  it  appears,  that  the  three  first 
vials  relate  to  the  French  Revolution^  describing  at  once 
the  principles  upon  which  it  was  founded,  and  the  mise- 
ries both  infernal  and  external  which  it  has  produced. 
This  tremendous  revolution,  which  more  or  less  has  affect* 
ed  the  nvhole  Roman  Empire,  I  conceive  to  be  the  first 
period  of  the  third  woe-trumpet,  which  St.  John  figura- 
tively describes  under  the  image  of  a  harvest ;  a  harvest 
not  of  mercy,  but  of  God's  wrath  against  the  nations. 
After  this  figurative  harvest  has  been  gathered  in,  there 
is  to  be  a  sort  of  pause  between  it  and  the  commence^ 
ment  of  the  vintage.  The  affairs  of  the  world  are  in  some 
measure  to  return  to  their  old  channel :  yet  they  are  not 
to  roll  on  so  smoothly,  but  that  the  interval  between  the 
harvest  and  the  vintage  will  be  marked  by  certain  im- 
portant events.  These  events  are  predicted  under  the 
three  following  vials. 

SECTION    II. 

Concerning  the  three  intermediate  vials. 

The  reader  must  decide  for  himself  how  far  it  is  prob- 
able, that  three  out  of  the  seven  vials  have  already  been 
poured  out  at  the  commencement  of  the  last  ziDoe-trumpef, 
constituting  jointly  that  grand  period  o^  it,  which  by  St. 
John  is  styled  the  harvest,  and  by  which  I  understand 
the  French  Revolution.      The  concluding  vial  is  reserved 

o 

*  Mr.  Galloway  whimsically  supposes,  that  the  angel  of  the  ivaters  is  the  maritime 
iovereign  of  Great  Britain.  In  the  well-deserved  encomiums,  which  he  bestows  upon 
our  revered  monarch,  1  heartily  concur,  though  I  cannot  think  that  he  is  meant  by 
the  angel  of  the  ivaters.  This  angel  is  manifestly  no  Other  than  the  angel,  who  had 
just  poured  out  his  i>ial  upon  the  ■waters  of  the  rivers  and  fountains  ;  whence  he  is 
naturally  styled  the  angel  of  the  -waters,  or  the  angel  lohose  infuence  affected  the  ivaters. 
Mr.  Galloway  appears  to  me  to  have  been  by  no  means  successful  in  his  interpre- 
,tation  of  any  of  the  -vials,  excepting /if  sixth,  which  he  rightly  applies  to  Turkey.  In  his 
elucidation  of  the  third  he  has  been  peculiarly  unhappy.  Entirely  quitting  the 
language  of  symbols,  he  fancies  that  the  rivers  z\\i\  fountains  mean  Germany,  for  no 
other  reason  but  because  that  country  is  ivell  ivatered  -with  abundance  of  large  streams. 
In  a  sermon,  which  I  pubUshed  some  years  ago  upon  the  pouring  out  of  the  -vials,  \ 
was  right  in  my  general  idea  respecting  them,  but  in  mcrethao  ofle  ijigtance  wrong- 
in  my  particular  application  of  them. 

VOL.  TI.  27 


210 

for  the  end  of  it,  or  the  termination  of  the  1260  years  ; 
and  comprehends  the  second  ^rand  period  of  the  vintage. 
As  for  the  fourth^  fifths  and  sixths  vials,  1  consider  them 
as  occupying  the  intermediate  space  between  the  harvest 
and  the  vintage  ;  and  am  inclined  to  view  the  sixth  vial 
in  the  light  of  a  harbinger  and  prescursor  of  the  last.  Like 
a  herald  it  prepares  the  way,  and  makes  every  thing  ready 
for  the  final  tremendous  manifestation  of  God's  righteous 
judgments  upon  his  enemies. 

"  And  the  fourth  angel  poured  out  his  vial  upon  the 
sun  ;  and  power  was  given  unto  him  to  scorch  men  with 
fire.  And  men  w'ere  scorched  with  great  heat,  and  blas- 
phemed the  name  of  God,  which  hath  power  over  these 
plagues  ;  and  they  repented  not  to  give  him  glory." 

In  the  language  of  symbols,  the  sun  of  a  kingdom  is  the 
government  of  that  kingdojn  ;  and  the  sun  of  an  empire , 
if  it  be  a  divided  empire,  is  the  government  of  the  most 
poKDerful state  loithin  that  empire.  When  the  political  sun 
shines  with  a  steady  lustre,  and  yields  a  salutary  warmth, 
it  is  a  blessing  to  a  people.  But,  when  it  glares  with  a 
fierce  and  unnatural  heat,  scorching  all  the  productions 
of  human  industry  with  the  intolerable  blaze  of  a  porten- 
tous tyranny,  it  is  the  heaviest  curse  which  can  befall  a 
nation. 

Since  the  whole  prophecy  of  the  Apocalypse  relates  to 
the  Roman  empire,  the  sun  mentioned  under  this  vial 
must  be  the  sun  of  the  Roman  firmament :  since  the  pour- 
ing out  of  all  the  vials  takes  place  long  posterior  to  the 
division  of  the  empire,  this  sun  must  be  the  sun  of  the  di- 
vided empire  :  and  since  the  three  first  vials  have  carried 
us  to  the  end  of  the  hat'vest  or  the  anarchical  horrors  of 
the  French  Revolution,  this  sun  must  mean  the  govern- 
ment of  that  state  within  the  limits  of  the  empire  which 
at  the  present  era  is  the  most  powerful.  The  prediction 
then  of  the  fourth  z;irt/ obviously  intimates,  that  the  frantic 
scenes  of  the  harvest  should  be  succeeded  by  a  systematic 
militarif  tijranmi,  which  should  be  exercised  over  a  con- 
siderable part  of  the  Roman  empire  by  the  government  of 
the  most  powerful  state  then  existing  within  its  limits. 
The  world,  exhausted  with  the  miseries  of //^e  symbolical 
harvest,  and  wearied  with  the  wild  struggles  of  licentious 


211 

anarchy,  should  tamely  submit  to  the  lawless  domination 
of  an  unrelenting  despot.  In  pointing  out  the  particular 
government  intended  hy  this  scorching  sun  of  the  Latin  or 
Papal  firmament^  the  reader  will  doubtless  have  antici- 
pated me.  The  present  Popish  states  are  France,  Aus- 
tria, Spain,  Portugal,  Naples,  Sardinia,  and  Etruria.  Of 
these,  I  apprehend,  no  one  will  be  inclined  to  deny,  that 
France  is  by  many  degrees  the  most  powerful  ;  and  con- 
sequently that  its  government  must  inevitably  be  esteem- 
ed the  sun  of  the  system.*  To  observe  then  the  accurate 
completion  of  the  prophecy  of  the  fourth  viaU  in  which  it 
is  said  that  power  was  given  to  this  sun  to  scorch  men  with 
fire,  and  that  they  were  scorched  with  great  heat,  we  have 
only  to  cast  our  eyes  over  the  continent.  A  system  of 
tyranny,  hitherto  unknown  in  Europe  except  in  the  worst 
periods  of  the  Roman  history,  has  been  established,  and 
is  now  acted  upon  by  him  who  styles  himself  Rm- 
peror  of  the  French  :  and  the  scorching  rays  of  military 
despotism  are,  at  this  moment  felt,  more  or  less,  through- 
out France,  Holland,  Switzerland,  Italy,  Spain,  and  the 
west  of  Germany,  A  regular  plan  of  making  each  man  a 
spy  upon  his  neighbour  destroys  all  the  comfort  and  all 
the  confidence  of  social  life:  and  France,  with  her  de- 

"^'  Should  the  present  usurper  of  the  throne  of  France,  who  already  emulates  the 
imperial  rank  of  Austria,  or  should  any  successor  of  his  at  some  future  period,  pro- 
claim hxmseM  E7?!peror  of  the  Romans,  and  thus  transfer  the  crown  of  Charlemagne 
from  Germany  to  France,  as  it  was  heretofore  transferred  from  France  to  Germany  : 
he  would  then,  like  Charlemagne,  be  the  representative  of  the  Imt  head  of  the  beast. 
Buonaparte  is  already  in  fact  master  of  Italy,  and  appears  to  be  upon  the  eve  of 
reviving  the  ancient  kingdom  of  Lombardy. 

Since  this  note  was  written,  the  usurper  of  the  throne  of  the  Bourbons  has  for- 
mally proclaimed  himself /f'/«^  of  Italy,  and  has  encircled  his  brows  with  the  ancient 
iron  crown  of  the  Lombard  sovereigns.  Thus  is  one  of  the  great  maxims  of  Ger- 
rnan  jurisprudence  completely  overturned ;  namely, "  that  the  prince,  who  was 
elected  Emperor  in  the  German  diet,  acquired  from  that  instant  the  subject  king- 
doms of  Italy  and  Rome."  (See  Gibbon's  Hist,  of  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  ix.  p.  191.) 
May  not  the  voice  of  ambition  soon  whisper  in  the  ear  of  the  new  sovereign  of 
Italy,  that  the  right  of  electing  a  Roman  Emperor  belongs,  not  to  the  princes  of 
Germany,  but  (as  it  was  in  the  days  of  Cliarlemagne)  to  the  senate  and  people  of 
Rome  1  As  for  the  Pope,  he  is  ready  to  give  his  sanction  to  any  new  dignity  which 
Buonaparte  may  think  proper  to  assume.     May,  1805. 

I  have  now  to  add,  that  the  disastrous  termination  of  the  campaign  of  1805  has 
made  the  chief  of  the  French  government  the  undoubted  reprcsetnati-ve  of  Coarlemagne, 
and  consequently  i>5^  last  head  of  the  beast.  The  house  of  Austria  seems  tacitly  to 
liave  exchanged  the  title  of  Emperor  of  the  Romans  for  that  of  Emperor  of  Austria  : 
and,  although  Buonaparte  has  not  yet  formallv  assumed  it,  it  can  add  nothing  to 
his  power  when  he  does  assume  it,  for  he  is  already  the  uniwtrcUed  emperor  of  the  ivis^ 
tern  continental  Roman  ivorld.     June  3,  1 80G. 


212 

graded  provinces,  or,  as  they  are  termed  with  diplomatiG 
mockery,  allies,  i^roans  under  the  weight  of  endless  requi- 
sitions, levies,  and  extortions,  at  once  tormented  herself, 
and  the  savage  tormentor  of  others.* 

It  is  not  unlikely,  that  the  influence  of  this  vial  will  ex- 
tend to  the  very  commencement  o^ the  vintage.^  The  vio- 
lence of  demucratical  and  atheistical  madness,  that  dread- 
ful harvest  of  God's  wrath,  has  now  abated  :  but,  since 
part  of  the  business  of  the  intermediate  vials  is  first  to  pre- 
pare that  popish  and  infidel  confederacy  which  will  be 
finally  broken  in  the  days  oi  the  vintage^  and  afterwards  to 
collect  the  kings  of  the  Latin  earth  to  the  great  battle  of 
the  Lord  at  Armageddon  ;  the  sun  ofmilitarij  tyranny  will 
most  probably  glare  with  unabated  violence  to  the  very 
time  of  the  end^  and  be  the  principal  immediate  instru- 
ment both  of  forming  and  o{ dh'eci'mg  that  confederacy. X 

The  effect,  produced  both  by  these  plagues  and  by  the 
following  ones,  will  only  be  blasphemy  and  hardness  of 
heart,  instead  of  a  reformation  of  principles  and  practice. 
The  earthquake,  which  overthrew  the  tenth  pat^t  of  the 

*  Even  before  the  era  of  the  Revolution,  and  previous  to  the  vast  acquisition  of 
power  made  by  France  since  that  convulsion,  the  sovereigns  of  the  Capetian  dynasty 
were  so  conscious  of  their  preponderating  influence  in  Europe,  that,  with  a  kind  of 
arrogant  fatality,  they  assumed  for  their  distinguishing  badge  tbs  sun,  with  this 
motto,  Nee  pluribiis  impar,  alone  equal  to  many.  This  notion  of  superiority  indeed  was 
so  familiar  to  Frenchmen,  that  the  health  of  his  sovereign  is  said  to  have  been  once 
proposed  by  a  French  Ambassador  to  Lord  Stair,  and  the  very  name  of  the  sun. 
With  the  same  idea  no  doubt  the  largest  ship  in  the  French  navy  was  called  the 
royal  sun.  Upon  ibis  sun,  or  the  government  of  France,  We  have  HOW  beheld  the  fourth 
vial  poured  out,  enabling  it  to  scorch  men  with  fire. 

f  Since  this  was  written  in  the  year  1804,  the  sphere  of  tlie  influence  of  this 
scorching  sun  has  been  tremendously  increased  ;  and  there  is  now  scarcely  any  part 
of  the  ivestern  Ro.r.an  Empire  unaflfected  by  its  intolerable  blaze.     June  3, 1806. 

^  Mr.  Sharps  thinks,  that  the  scorching  of  the  Sun  means  unlimited  monarchy  ingeneral, 
operating  in  tlie  keeping  up  of  standing  armies  and  martial  law  ;  and  he  censures 
the  government  of  England  for  preferring  regular  troops  to  militia.  Independcn': 
of  his  unwarrantable  estension  of  the  symbol  from  thefgurati-je  sun  of  the  Europea:', 
commoniuealth  to  every  separate  star  of  its  firma?nent,  I  cannot  but  think  Ilim  a  little 
unreasonable  in  his  animadversions.  It  would  certainly  be  a  very  happy  thing  for 
the  country,  if  a  standing  army  could  be  dispensed  with  ;  but,  since  it  is  our  mis- 
fortune, not  our  fault,  to  live  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  a  horde  of  fero- 
cious and  well-trained  banditti,  we  must,  as  we  value  our  liberty  and  independence, 
be  well  prepared  for  their  reception.  A  traveller  finds  it  much  more  agreeable  to 
pursue  his  journey  without  the  incumbrance  of  arms,  and  without  the  fear  of  mo- 
lestation :  but,  if  his  track  lie  through  a  country  infested  by  robbers,  he  must 
ciriier  submit  to  the  inconvenience  of  bearing  weapons,  or  to  the  still  greater 
inconvenience  of  being  plundered.  Were  the  nation  defended  by  none  but  brave 
imperfectly  disciplined  troops,  it  would  be  ill  able  to  cope  with  antagonists  perhap? 
%rit  less  brave  and  with  every  advantage  of  discipline. 


213 

c////,  caused,  as  welmveseenjhej'emnanfofihe  seed  of  the 
woman  to  giveglory  unto  the  Lord  :  but  the  effusion  of ///<? 
via/s  upon  God's  enemies  produces  not  the  least  tendency 
to  repentance.  We  must  not  therefore  look  for  any  fur- 
ther reformation  from  Popery  ;*  for  the  vials  are  instru- 
ments of  God's  wrath,  not  of  his  mercy.  France  accord- 
ingly has  nominaihj  returned,  like  a  dog  to  its  vomit,  to 
her  old  alliance  with  the  blasphemous  corruptions  oiPo- 
pery  :  but,  according  to  every  account  of  eye-witnesses, 
she  still  really  and  individually  strengthens  herself  in  the 
yet  more  blasphemous  abominations  o^  Antichrist. 

Yet,  although  there  will  be  no  further  reformation,  it 
does  not  appear,  that  the  inspired  writers  give  any  intima- 
tions of  some  stiil  more  dreadfiU  persecution  of  the  ivit- 
nesses,  than  that  which  they  have  already  undergone  from 
the  two  Latin  beasts  :  on  the  contrary.  Scripture  seems 
to  me  at  least  rather  to  lead  to  a  directly  opposite  opin- 
ion. I  mean  not  indeed  to  deny,  that  individual  protes- 
tants,  those  for  instance  who  reside  in  popish  countries, 
may  experience  persecution  ;  these  will  continue  to  pro- 
phesy in  sackcloth  to  the  venj  end  of  the  1260  days  :  I 
would  only  be  understood  to  intimate,  that  I  can  discover 
no  warrant  for  expecting  that  Protestantism  in  general., 
as  nationallij  professed,  will  ever  be  so  far  subdued  by  Po- 
jjeri].,  as  to  undergo  throughout  the  whole  world  a  grand 
universal  persecution.  The  troubles,  produced  by  inces- 
sant war  with  the  atheistico-papal  powers,  will  be  the 
great  means  of  purifying  the  Church  ;  not,  1  think,  any 
persecution  resembling  those  of  the  Pagan  Emperors  oP 
the  Roman  Pontiffs  in  the  plenitude  of  their  power. 

I  am  led  to  form  this  opinion  by  observing,  that  all 
the  vials  of  the  last  woe-trumpet  are  represented  as  being 
poured  out  upon  the  Papal  and  Mohammedan  Boma?/^ 
empire  ;'\  upon  those,  that  have  the  mark  of  the  beast ; 
upon  those,  that  have  shed  the  blood  of  saints  and  proph- 
ets;  upon  those,  that  have  blasphemed  the  name  of  God  by 

'-  I  have  already  stated  other  grounds,  besides  this,  when  treating  of  the  ten-horned 
beast,  for  adopting  such  an  opinion. 

f  "  Phialaj  omnes,"  says  Mr.  Mede,  "in  be.-tiam  (soil.  Romanam)  effunduntiir." 
(Com.  Apoc.  in  loc.)  "  Go  your  ways,  and  pour  out  the  vials  of  the  wrath  of  God 
upon  the  earth."  (Rev.  xvi.  1.)  The  tarth  throughout  the  Apocalypse  denotes  the. 
Roman  empire. 


214 

reason  of  the  noisome  sore  of  atheism  ;  upon  the  seat  arid 
kingdom  of  the  beast.  None  of  these  particulars  are  de- 
scriptive of  such  profestajit  states^  as  have  held  fast  the 
fiiith  of  their  ancestors,  and  have  not  apostatized,  like 
Holland,  Switzerland,  and  protestant  Germany,  to  the 
lye  of  Antichrist.  The  lust  plagues^  comprehended  un- 
der the  third  woe-trumpet.,  are  poured  out  only  upon  »«- 
pists^  blaspheming  atheists^  and  Mohammedans :  and,  al- 
though under  the  seventh  vial  "  there  shall  be  a  time  of 
trouble,  such  as  never  was  since  there  was  a  nation  ;" 
yet  it  is  a  time  of  trouble  to  none  but  the  beast,  the  false 
prophet,  and  the  congregated  kings  of  the  Roman  earth. 
At  the  glorious  era  of  the  Reformation,  the  \-oice  of  the 
Lord  called  aloud  from  heaven,  "  Come  out  of  the  mys- 
tic Babylon,  my  people,  that  ye  be  not  partakers  of  her 
sins,  and  that  ye  receive  not  of  her  plagues."  Surely 
then  we  must  unavoidably  conclude,  that  those,  .who  <//^ 
come  out  of  her,  who  obeyed  the  warning  voice,  who 
cvjtt^^i?^/ to  be  partakers  of  her  sins,  who  suffered  them- 
selves not  a  second  time  to  be  deluded  by  the  yet  more 
gross  lie  of  atheism,  ici'l  Ukeivise  receive  not  of  her 
plagues.  Whether  the  mighty  king  of  the  North,  who  is 
ne'nhev  papist  nor  protestant,  and  whose  ample  territo- 
ries are  without  the  limits  of  the  great  Latin  citij,  be  des- 
tined to  inflict,  "  at  the  time  of  the  end,"  its  death- 
■^vound  upon  the  spiritual  empire  of  Mohammed,  events 
alone  can  determine.  The  position  of  his  dominions  gives 
him  immediate  access  to  the  realms  of  both  Persia  and 
Turkey  :  but  upon  this  point  I  presume  not  to  be  wise 
above  zchat  is  written.  It  is  however  written,  that,  al- 
though the  dragon  shall  direct  the  rage  of  his  favourite 
minister  Antichrist  against  the  remnant  of  the  seed  of  the 
woman  ;*  yet  the  vials  shall  be  exclusively  poured  out 
upon  the  enemies  of  God.  Hence  1  conjecture, f  that 
this  final  attempt^of //?<?  dragon  will  totally  fail  of  success, 
because  it  exceeds  the  peculiar  commission  of  the  infidel 
king :  and  hence  I  conclude,  that,  as  the  great  protest- 

■   Rev.  xii   1 7. 
f  I  may  do  more  indeed  tlian  merely  conjecture  that  such  will  be  the  case  :  the  com' 
fhte  failure  of  this  last  attempt  of  the  dragon  is  expressly  predicted  in  the  overthrow  of 
the  false  prophet  and  his  adhcrsKts  at  the  batUe  of  ^rmagcddan , in  the  region  bei-ween  thi  tzva 


215 

ant  states  of  Europe  have  hitherto  been  marvellously  pre- 
served amidst  the  plagues  of  the  papal  Babijlon^  so  they 
will  be  preserved  even  to  the  time  of  the  end. 

"  And  the  fiflh  angel  poured  out  his  vial  upon  the 
seat  of  the  beast :  and  his  kingdom  was  full  of  darkness, 
and  they  gnawed  their  tongues  for  pain,  and  blasphem- 
ed the  God  of  heaven,  because  of  their  pains  and  their 
sores,  and  repented  not  of  their  deeds." 

In  the  Apocalypse  mention  is  made  of /:t;o  beasts^  the 
secular  and  the  ecclesiastical ;  and  it  might  be  doubted 
which  of  the  two  was  here  intended,  were  we  not  assist- 
ed in  our  inquiries  by  the  general  context  of  the  whole 
prophecy.  Whenever  the  beast  \ssi?npli/  mentioned,  by 
way  of  eminence  as  it  were,  1  believe  it  will  invariably  be 
found,  that  the  ten-horned  ox  secular  beast  \2,  meant,*  not 
the'  two-horned  or  ecclesiastical  beast.  In  addition  to 
this  general  proof,  the  particular  context  of  the  present 
passage  may  be  adduced.  The  angel  is  said  to  pour  his 
■vial  upon  the  seat  of  the  beast.  Now  the  first  beast  is  ex- 
pressly said  to  have  had  a  seat  ox  throne  given  him  by 
the  dragon ;  because,  although  nominally  Christian,  he 
exercised  his  secular  authority,  like  his  predecessor  the 
pagan  empire^m  persecuting/Ae  Church  of  God  :^  where- 
as no  mention  is  made  of  the  seat  of  the  second  beast,  and 
for  this  plain  reason  ;  the  secular  authority  of  the  Pope 
was  confined  within  the  narrow  limits  of  an  Italian  prin- 
cipality, and  all  the  persecutions  which  he  ever  excited 
against  the  faithful  were  carried  into  effect  by  the  first 
beast  through  the  instrumentality  either  of  his  last  head 
or  of  his  ten  liorns.%  Hence  I  think  it  m.anifest,  that  the 
beast,  upon  whose  seat  the  present  vial  is  poured,  is  the 
first  or  secular  beast. 

What  is  precisely  meant  by  this  judgment  it  is  impos- 
sible at  present  to  determine  with  any  certainty,  inas- 

*  See  Rev.  xiv.  9,  11.  xvi.  2.  xlx.  19.  f  Rev.  xiL  2. 

f  All  the  different  martyrs,  who  were  persecuted  to  death  as  heretics,  after  they 
had  been  found  guilty  by  the  ecclesiastical  courts  were  formally  dehvered  over  te 
the  secular  arm  for  puuishment.  "  It  is  not  lawful  for  us  to  put  any  man  to  death,'*' 
was  the  constant  language  of  .\'v  tzvo-horued  beast,  as  it  heretofore  was  of  the  Jev^ish 
priests  when  demanding  the  death  of  Christ.  Sometimes  even,  with  a  crocodile 
affectation  of  clemency,  the  secular  beast  was  besought  by  his  merciful  colleague  not 
to  deal  too  harshly  with  the  condemned. 


'216 

much  as  it  is  yet  future.  Jf  however  we  may  argue  from 
analogy,  since  the  giving  of  a  seat  or  throne  to  the  beast 
hij  ike  dragon  evidently  means  the  investing  him  with  the 
same  secular  power  of  making  war  with  the  saints  as  that 
exercised  bif  him  zvhile  in  his  pagan  state,  the  pouring  out 
of  a  vial  upon  that  seat  so  as  to  Jill  Ids  iiohole  kingdom 
with  darkness  seems  most  naturally  to  represent  some 
grievous  calamity  iiohich  should  materially  affect  that  sec- 
ular power  of  persecution,  and  f  II  his  zv hole  kingdom  with 
consternation  and  confusion. 

The  beast  here  spoken  of  is  the  beast  under  his  last 
head :  but  zv  hat  poller  will  be  that  last  head,  when  the 
present  vial  is  poured  out,  must  be  determined  by  the 
event.* 

*  Ihave  already  observed,  thatiic  last  head  of  the  beast  is  by  the  Apostle  termed 
the  beast  himself. 

Since  this  was  written,  the  battle  of  Austerlitz  has  been  fought,  and  possibly  the 
ffth  -vial  has  been  poured  out.  From  the  ambiguous  nature  of  the  Carlovingian  head 
ef  the  beast,  which  has  sometimes  been  attached  to  one  kingdom  and  family  and  some- 
times to  another,  I  dare  not  even  now  positively  say,  that  the  effusion  of  the  ffth  vial 
has  commenced  ;  but  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  believe  that  it  has  commenced,  and 
that  the  house  of  Austria  now  feeis  its  baleful  eflects.  This  vial  is  said  to  be  pour- 
ed out  on  the  throne  or  scci-.lar  atithorlty  of  the  beast  undo  his  last  head,  the  representative 
of  which  previous  to  the  late  campaign  was  the  German  emperor  of  the  Romans ;  and  it 
produces  the  effect  of  filhng  his  kingdom  with  darkness.  Let  the  reader  turn  his 
eyes  to  the  present  state  of  that  unfortunate  prince,  and  of  (what  anciently  and  in- 
deed till  very  lately  properly  constituted  his  kingdom)  Germany  and  Italy  :  and  he 
will  behold  the  power  of  the  imperial  throne  subverted,  and  the  Emperor  degraded 
to  the  condition  of  a  mere  /;i//n  of  Austria,  elbowed  out  of  his  empire,  stripped  even  of 
his  hereditary  dominions,  and  trembling  at  the  nod  of  an  implacable  enemy,  who 
seems  even  now  to  be  meditating  his  entire  destruction ;  he  will  behold  Germany 
passing  under  the  yoke  of  a  new  Charlemagne,  and  parcelled  out  according  to  the 
sovereign  pleasure  of  a  daring  usurper,  its  ancient  constitution  annihilated,  and  it- 
self full  of  political  darkness  and  confusion  ;  he  will  behold  Italy  equally  degraded, 
equally  dark,  equally  confused.  And  what  is  the  consequence  of  these  calamities  ^ 
•'  They  gnawed  their  tongues  for  pain,  and  blasphemed  the  God  of  heaven  because 
of  their  pains  and  their  sores,  and  repented  not  of  their  deeds."  And  do  we  find  any 
thing  like  a  reformation  in  Gn-many  and  Italy  f  They  present  only  the  hideous  spec- 
tacle of  the  abominations  of  Popery  blended  with  the  blasphemies  of  Infidelity. 

'I'hough  1  scruple  not  to  say,  that  there  are  strong  reasons  for  believing  that  the 
ffth  I'ial  has  begun  to  be  poured  out,  I  repeat  that  1  am  unwilling  at  present  posi- 
tiitely  to  make  such  an  assertion.  Whenever  the  tuaters  of  the  mystic  Euphrates  are 
completelv  dried  up  under  the  sixth  vial,  we  shall  then  know  with  certainty  that  the 
ffth  vial,  which  precedes  it,  7mist  have  been  poured  out ;  we  shall  then  consequent- 
ly be  able  to  determine,  whether  the  ffth  vial  was  poured  out  at  the  close  of  the  year 
3  805,  or  whether  it  relates  to  some  yet  future  calamity  about  to  befall  the  present 
Carlovingian  head  of  the  bcait.  This  last  hoAvever  I  fear  we  have  not  much  reason  to 
expect.  The  fall  of  the  Tv.rhish  monarchy  will  throw  a  wonderful  light  on  the  study 
of  the  apocalvpse  ;  because  it  will  definitely  teach  us  in  what  part  of  it  we  are  now 
living,  and  will  prove  that  all  the f-ve first  vials  (let  them  relate  to  what  they  may) 
must  have  been  previously  poured  out.  If  no  events  therefore,  answering  to  those 
described  under  the  ffth  vial,  sliall  lake  place  between  the  present  time  and  the  down- 


S17 

"  And  the  sixth  angel  poured  out  his  vial  upon  the 
great  river  Euphrates  ;  and  the  water  thereof  was  dried 
up,  that  the  way  of  the  kings  from  the  East  might  be  pre- 
pared. And  1  saw  three  unclean  spirits  like  frogs  come 
out  of  the  mouth  of  the  dragon,  and  out  of  the  mouth 
of  the  beast,  and  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  false  prophet. 
For  they  are  the  spirits  of  devils,  working  miracles, 
which  go  forth  unto  the  kings  of  the  earth  and  of  the 
whole  world,  to  gather  them  to  the  battle  of  that  great 
day  of  God  Almighty.  Behold,  I  corneas  a  thief  Bless- 
ed is  he,  that  watcheth,  and  keepeth  his  garments,  lest 
he  walk  naked,  and  they  see  his  shame.  And  he  gath- 
ered them  together  into  a  place,  called  in  the  Hebrew 
tongue  Armageddon." 

Under  the  sixth  trumpet,  the  four  Turkish  sultanies, 
the  mijstic  ivaters  of  the  Ottoman  empire,  issued  from  the 
river  Euphrutes  :  under  the  sixth  vial,  the  zcaters  of  t lie 
same  Euphrates  are  to  be  completely  dried  up.  We 
cannot  therefore  reasonably  doubt,  that  the  sijmholical 
Euphrates  means  in  both  cases  the  same  power*      Riv^ 

all  of  the  Turkish  monarchy,  I  hesitate  not  to  say,  that  that  -vial,  which  immediately  suc- 
ceeds the  commencement  of  the  scorching  militar)'  tyranny  predicted  under  the  fourth, 
must  have  begun  to  be  poured  out  in  the  late  disastrous  campaign.     June  S,  1806. 

*  Since  this  was  written,  I  have  seen  a  paper  in  the  Christian  Observer  for  fanum-i 
1805,  in  wliich  the  Euphrates,  here  mentioned  by  the  prophet,  is  connected  with 
Home  ;  on  the  ground  that  the  literal  Euphrates  is  connected  with  the  literal  BaLylon  : 
whence  it  is  argued,  that  the  drying  up  of  the  Euphrates  implies  the  impending  destruction 
of  Antichristian  Rome.  Had  the  writer  attended  to  the  uniformity  and  strict  exact- 
ness of  the  apocalyptic  language,  he  would  probably  not  have  hazarded  such  a  con- 
jecture. The  mystic  streams  of  the  Euphrates  underlie  sixth  trumpet  manifestly  relate  to 
the  infancy  of  the  Turkish  empire  :  the  drying  up  therefore  of  those  mystic  streams  under  the 
sixth  -vial  must  relate  to  its  destruction.  So  again  :  \i  the  Euphrates  of  the  sixth  -vial  is 
to  be  connected  with  Rome,  the  Euphrates  of  the  sixth  trumpet  must  likewise  be  con- 
nected with  Rome  ;  for,  unless  we  violate  completely  the  definiteness  of  the  whole 
Revelation,  what  the  Euphrates  means  in  one  passage,  it  must  mean  in  another.  Con- 
sequently, if  the  Euphrates  of  the  sixth  -vial  be  the  papal  nations  of  the  Roman  empire,  Or 
(what  the  writer  ot  this  paper  seems  to  insinuate)  the  infuence  of  the  Papacy  over  those 
■nations  :  then  we  must  conclude,  unless  we  are  v/illing  to  give  up  all  consistency  of 
language  in  the  Apocalypse,  that  the  Euphrates  of  the  sixth  trumpet  means /Zrf  same  ,  in 
which  case  we  shall  at  length  arrive  at  the  absurd  position,  that  the  four  Turkish  sul- 
tanies  issued   from  the  papal  nations  of  the  Roman    empire,   or  that   the   Turkish  monarchy 

originated  from  the  infuence  of  the  Papacy.  The  fact  is,  as  I  have  already  abundantly 
shewn,  rivers  typify  nations  ;  and,  when  a  particular  river  is  mentioned,  the  nation  up' 
en  its  hanks  is  intended.  The  Euphrates  therefore  of  the  sixth  tri-mpet  is  the  symbol  of 
the  Turkish  monarchy  :  whence  it  will  follow,  that  the  Euphrates  of  the  sixth  vial  mustLc 

the  same.     Unless  this  be  allowed,  St.  John   uses  the  same  svmbol  in  different  senses, 
and  consequently  puts  an  entire  end  to  all  certainty  of  interpretation.     (See  the  be- 
ginning of  Chap.  ii.  of  the  present  work.)     The  writer  of  this  paper  seems  to  have 
taken  his  idea  from  some  of  the  commentators  cited  by  Pole.     See  StTiop.  in  loc. 
VOL.    l\.  ^t) 


218 

er>s  typify  nations ;  and,  when  a  particular  river  is  speci- 
fied, the  nation  immediately  connected  zoith  that  river  is 
obviously  intended.  Such  being  the  case,  as  the  issuing 
forth  of  the  four  snltanies^  those  fmjsticwaters  of  the  Eu- 
phrates which  deluged  the  Eastern  Empire,  denotes  the 
rise  of  the  Turkish  power  ^  so  the  dri/i?ig  up  of' those  iva- 
ters  must  evidently  denote  its  subversion.  Now,  since 
the  drying  up  or  evaporation  of  water  is  a  slow  process, 
we  may  naturally  conclude,  that  the  expression  points 
out,  not  merely  the  subversion  of  the  Turkish  pozver  in 
the  general^  but  the  particular  mode  of  that  subversion  by 
the  slow  consumption  of  its  political  strength,  and  by  the 
gradual  wasting  away  of  its  people.  When  the  sixth  an- 
gel however  poured  out  his  vial  u  pon  thefgurative  Euphra- 
tes, we  read  that  its  waters  were  completely  dried  up,  inso- 
much that  a  way  was  prepared  for  the  kings  from  the 
East.  Hence  it  is  manifest,  when  we  consider  the  slow 
process  of  evaporating  natural  water,  that  we  may  ex- 
pect the  zcaters  of  the  Ottoman  empire  to  begin  to  be  dri- 
ed up  many  years  previous  to  their  final  exhaustion  un- 
der the  sixth  vial.^ 

The  prelude  to  the  pouring  out  o^  this  vial  we  may 
behold  with  our  own  eyes.  Let  us  only  advert  to  the 
^present  state  of  the  Turkish pozver,  and  we  shall  be  con- 
vinced, that  for  some  years  the  symbolical  Euphrat^an 
waters  have  been  gradually  drying  up.  The  approach- 
ing termination  indeed  of  Me  Ottoman  empire  is  so  man- 
ifest, that  even  those,  whose  attention  is  solely  directed 
to  politics,  are  sufficiently  aware  that  the  time  of  its  ex- 
tinction cannot  be  very  far  distant.  Of  late  it  has  been 
preserved  rather  by  the  jealousy  of  the  great  European 
powers,  than  by  any  physical  strength  of  its  own  :  and  it 
doubtless  zsoill  be  preserved  by  the  hand  of  Providence 
till  his  own  appointed  season  shall  approach  for  preparing 
a  way  for  the  kings  from  the  East.,  and  for  gathering  to- 
gether the  kings  of  the  Latin  world  to  the  battle  of  the 
great  day  of  God  Almighty. "j* 

*  See  Whitaker's  Ccmmcnt.  p.  489  at  infra. 

\  Russia  has  more  than  once  appeared  to  be  on  the  very  eve  of  swallowing  up 
Turkey ;  and  yet  she  has  always  been  prevented  from  accomplishing  her  sufficiently 
evident  designs.     It  is  a  singular  circumstance,  that  the  Turks  themselves  forebode 


219 

Not  only  however  has  the  political  strength  of  Turkey 
begun  to  be  dried  up,  but,  as  it  were  designed  that  noth- 
ing should  be  wanting  to  the  exact  completion  of  the 
prophecy,  even  its  population  has  likewise  begun  to  di- 
minish. This  singular  circumstance  is  noticed  by  Mr. 
Eton.  After  some  enquiry  into  the  causes  of  it,  he  adds, 
*'  It  is  therefore  reasonable  to  conclude,  that  depopula- 
tion could  not  formerly  have  made  so  rapid  a  progress  as 
at  present :  and  that,  in  a  century  more,  things  remain- 
ing in  their  present  situation,  the  Turkish  empire  will  be 
nearly  extinct.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  Curds 
in  the  mountains,  and  other  independent  tribes  who  do 
not  mix  with  the  Turks,  are  exempt  from  the  mortality 
occasioned  by  all  the  calamities,  which  afflict  the  coun- 
tries more  immediately  subject  to  the  Forte."* 

Nor  yet  does  the  empire  of  the  Eiiphratean  waters  sub- 
mit without  a  struggle  to  its  fate.  "  Many  attempts 
have  been  made  within  the  last  century,  principally  by 
French  officers,  to  renew  the  ancient  military  spirit  of  the 
Turks,  and  to  instruct  them  in  European  tactics.  Gazi 
Hassan,  the  celebrated  Pasha,  tried  with  unlimited  pow- 
er, for  nineteen  years,  to  inspire  his  own  spirit  into  the 
troops;  but  he  found  all  his  efforts  ineffectual."'!' 

Who  the  kings  from  the  East  are,  for  whom  a  way  is 
prepared  by  the  annihilation  of  the  Turkish  empire,  it  is 
impossible  to  say  before  the  event  takes  place.  The  most 
probable  conjecture  is,  that  the  lost  ten  tribes  of  Israel 
are  intended.     It  is  a  very  remarkable  circumstance,  that 

their  future  overthrow  at  the  hands  of  the  Russian  mouarchy.  "  The  lower  orders," 
says  Mr.  Eton  in  his  sur\'ey  of  the  Turkish  empire,  "  are  at  the  present  day  per- 
suaded, that  the  Russian  standard  will  enter  Constantinople  through  a  certain  gate, 
said  to  be  pointed  out  by  an  ancient  prophecy ;  and  the  great  men  are  so  far  from 
opposing  tliis  weakness  by  superior  energy,  that  they  look  to  the  Asiatic  shore  as  a 
secure  retreat  from  the  fury  of  the  conquerors." 

Whenever  tlje  tvaters  cf  th  my -tic  Ei'phrates  are  dried  up,  we  shall  then  be  able  to 
decide  with  certainty  what  is  intended  by  the  pouring  out  oftbejlftb  vial  upon  the  seal 
cf  the  beast,  inasmuch  as  tie  pouring  out  of  that  -vial  precedes  the  do-wnfall  of  the  Turkish 
empire  under  the  sixth. 

It  may  not  be  improper  to  observe,  that  the  I'lal  is  not  said  to  be  poured  oxiifor  tie 
fur  pose  of  drying  up  the  zval.rs  of  the  Eiiph  rates,  but  only  to  m.ark  the  period  when 
they  ivere  dried  up,  tliat  a  way  might  be  prepared  for  the  tings  from  the  East.  Hence 
we  are  not  to  imagine,  that  tb:-  -vial  is  alre.uh  poiuxd  out,  because  the  tvaten  have  aU 
ready  begun  to  be  dried  up  :  but  we  must  consider  this  exiiaustiou  of  tliem  only  as  a 
prelude  to  the  pouring  of  it  out. 

*  Eton's  Survey  of  the  Turkish  Empire,  p.  Tlf^.  •'•  Ibid.  Ghnp.  ''•. 


•^20 

precisely  at  the  present  era,  an  era  marked  so  strongly  by 
the  signs  of  the  times,  as  to  give  us  every  reason  to  be- 
lieve, that  we  are  living  in  the  predicted  last  days  of  Anti- 
christian  blasphemy,  and  that  the  1260  ?/e«r6' are  rapidly 
drawing  near  to  their  termination  :  it  is,  1  say,  a  remarka- 
ble circumstance,  that,  at  this  very  era,  a  people  should 
begin  to  attract  our  notice  in  the  Kast  indies,  which  ap- 
pear to  be  a  fragment  either  of  the  lost  ten  tribes^  or  of 
the  Jews  that  never  returned  from  the  Babylonian  captiv- 
ity. The  late  Mr.  V  ansittart  was  the  first,  1  believe,  who 
brought  forward  to  public  notice  the  traditions  of  die 
Afghans  or  Rohdlus.  Having  met  with  a  Persian  abridg- 
ment of  the  Asiarul  Afaghinah^  or  the  secrets  of  the 
Afghans^  he  was  induced  to  translate  it,  and  to  transmit 
it  to  Sir  William  Jones  then  president  of  the  Asiatic  soci- 
ety ;  who  subjoined  the  following  note  to  it.  "  This  ac- 
count of  the  Afghans  may  lead  to  a  very  interesting  dis- 
covery. We  learn  from  Esdras,  that  the  ten  tribes^  after 
a  wandering  journey,  came  to  a  country  called  Arsarsth  ; 
■where  we  may  suppose  they  settled.*  Now  the  Atfghans 
are  said,  by  the  best  Persian  historians,  to  be  descended 
from  the  Jeios ;  they  have  traditions  among  themselves 
of  such  a  descent ;  and  it  is  even  asserted,  that  their  fami- 
lies are  distinguished  by  the  names  of  Jewish  tribes,  al- 
though, since  their  conversion  to  the  Islam^  they  studi- 
ously conceal  their  origin.  The  Pushto  language,  of 
which  1  have  seen  a  dictionary,  has  a  manifest  resem- 
blance to  the  Chalciuic ;  and  a  considerable  district  under 
their  dominion  is  called  Hazareh  or  Hazaret^  which 
might  easily  have  been  changed  into  the  word  used  by 
Esdras.  1  strongly  recommend  an  enquiry  into  the  lit- 
erature and  history  of  the  Afghans  "■\ 

From  this  interesting  note  of  that  great  linguist  we  learn 
four  very  curious  particulars,  relative  to  the  Afghans  : 
1.  that  they  have  a  tradition  among  themselves,  that  they 
are  of  Jewish  origin,  although  not  very  forward  to  ac- 
knowledge their  descent ;  2.  that  this  is  not  a  mere  vague 
tradition,  known  only  to  themselves  and  ridiculed  by 
iheir  neighbours, but  that  the  bestPersian  historians,  with 

*■  2  Esdraa  xiii.  10—47.  f  Asiatic  Researches,  Vul.  ii.  Numb,  4, 


221 

whose  empire  they  have  always  been  connected,  assert 
th»^  '  eiv  same  ;  3.  that  a  considerable  district  under  their 
dniiiiiiion  is  to  this  day  called  Huzuref,  a  word  nearly  re- 
sembling ^/-.vc/r^///,  which  (according  to  the  apocryphal 
Lsdras,  whoever  he  might  be,  and  at  whatever  period  he 
might  live)  was  the  name  of  the  country  into  which  the 
ten  tribes  retired  ;  4.  and  thai  their  language  has  a  man- 
it'est  rej^emblance  to  the  Chalduic. 

Before  I  entirely  quit  this  part  of  my  subject,  I  shall 
notice  a  coincidence,  which  is  at  least  curious,  if  it  de- 
serve no  better  name.  Mr.  Mede  conjectures,  that  the 
kins;s,  for  whom  the  exhaustiop  of  the  nujstic  Eh/Jirates 
is  U)  j)repare  a  way,  are  the  Jeics.  Had  he  said  Israe/ites 
throughout,  as  he  does  at  first,  he  would  perhaps  have 
expressed  himself  with  greater  accuracy  :  for,  if  the  pas- 
sage do  at  all  allude  to  the  restoraliun  of  the  house  of  Ja^ 
cob,  it  relates  more  probably  to  the  fen  tribes  than  to  Ju- 
dah.  But  why  should  ehhex  the  Israelites  or  the  Jews 
be  styled  kings  !  Such  a  title  accords  very  ill  with  the 
present  condition  of  the  Jews,  and  still  worse  with  that 
of  t^'e  Israelites,  if  they  be  so  entirely  lost  and  swallowed 
up,  as  some  have  imagined.  Mr.  Mede  does  not  attempt 
to  sche  this  ditficulty.  If  however  it  should  eventually 
prove  that  the  Afghans  are  really  the  remains  of  the  ten 
tribes,  and  if  bt.  John  speak  of  the  restoration  of  those  ten 
tribes  under  the  name  o'i  kings  from  the  east,  \\q '&\\d\\ 
immediately  perceive  the  singularly  exact  propriety  with 
which  he  styles  them  kings.  The  whole  race  of  the 
Afghans  denominate  themselves  even  to  the  present  day, 
in  their  Chaldaic  dialect,  Melic  or  with  the  plural  termi- 
nation Melchim,  in  English,  Kings.  They  consider  them- 
selves as  a  royal  nation  ;  and,  according  to  their  own  tra- 
dition, claim  their  proud  title  of  Melic  from  a  grant  of 
Mohammed,  whose  religion  they  profess.  If  then  they  be 
of  Hebrew  extraction,  the  dn/ing  up  of  the  nujslic  IZn- 
phrutes,  or  the  subversion  of  the  Ottoman  empire,  would 
undoubtedly  prepare  a  way  for  them  both  literally  and 
morally.  A  power  would  be  removed,  whose  dominions 
now  stretch  between  Persia  and  Palestine  ;  and  one  great 
branch  of  that  false  religion,  by  which  the  Afghans  are  at 
present  deluded,  would  be  broken  off.      According  to 


222 


Mr.  Vansittart,  the  sects  o{ the  Afghans  are  very  numer- 
ous ;  and  they  appear  to  be  a  nation  formidable  at  once 
for  its  population  and  its  bravery. 

AYhile  a  way  is  preparing  for  the  kings  from  the  East 
by  the  downfall  oithe  Ottoman  po'jDe)\  the  diabolical  in- 
fluence of  three  unclean  spirits  will  be  actively  though 
imperceptibly  employed  in  gathering  together  the  kings 
of  the  earth  and  of  the  zohole  worlds  or  o^the  papal  Latin 
empire  and  the  Roman  ii^orld,  to  the  battle  of  the  great 
day  of  God  Ahiiighty.  The  battle  itself  \s  evidently  that 
vvfiich  takes  plabe  under  the  next  vial,  and  whjch  is  de- 
tailed with  wonderful  sublimity  by  the  inspired  prophet. 
Here  the  dreadful  preparations  for  it  commence  :  there 
they  are  completed,  and  the  Z»a///e  is  fought.*     From  the 


*  Mr.  Sharpe  tliinks,  that  the  preparations  have  already  commenced :  but  he 
appears  to  be  a  litt'ie  pieraature  in  this  opinion,  for  Ibe  sixth  -vial  is  certainly  not 
yet  poured  out  under  which  the  preparations  are  to  be  begun,  inasmuch  as  the  zva- 
tcrs  of  the  mystic  Euphrates  are  not  yet  dried  up. 

But,  although  the  preparations  for  th^:  battle  of  Armageddon  cannot  yet  have  com- 
menced, because  St.  John  places  them  under  the  sixth  vial  and  subsequent  to  the 
exhaustion  of  the  mystic  Euphrates  ;  the  prelude  to  those  preparations  seems  to  have 
commenced,  even  since  this  Work  was  first  published  in  the  beginning  of  the  pre- 
sent year.  Among  the  other  signs  gf  the  times  bv  which  the  passing  generation  is 
so  awfully  marked,  there  is  one  of  so  gigantic  a  magnitude,  so  peculiar  a  nature, 
and  yet  of  so  very  recent  an  origin,  that  it  painfully  arrests  the  unwilling  attention 
even  of  the  most  careless  observer ;  a  sign  so  closely  connected  moreover  with  the 
downfall  of  the  Ottoman  empire,  that  one  can  scarcely  avoid  prognosticating  that 
downfall  not  to  be  verv  far  distant.  It  is  predicted,  that,  at  some  indefinite  period 
after  tlie  exhaustion  of  tks  Eupbratcan  ivaters,  three  unclean  spirits  should  go  fortli 
to  gather  the  kings  of  the  Roman  ivorld  to  tlie  battle  of  the  great  day  of  God  Almigh- 
ty :  and  it  afterwards  appears,  that  these  kings  are  associated  together  subject  to   th? 

guidance   of  the  beast  under  his  last  or  Carlo-vingian  head,  and  in  close  connection  with 

the  false  prophet.  (Compare  Rev.  xvi.  13 — 16.  with  Rev.  xix.  19,  20.)  Here  we 
may  observe,  that  the  three  unclean  spirits  are  not  said  simply  to  gather  the  kings 
together  or  to  form  them  into  a  confederacy,  but  to  gather  them  together  to  the  battle  of  the 
Lord :  whence  we  mav,  .ind  indeed  must,  conclude,  that  the  confederacy  itself  is  formed 
fre-vious  to  its  being  gatliered  by  the  unclean  spirits  to  Armageddon  ;  and  that  these 
spirits  use  it  unconsciouslv  as  their  tool,  when  it  is  thus  formed.  At  what  precise 
period  ir  zi'ill  be  formed  is  no  where  said.  For  any  thing  that  appears  to  the  con- 
irarj"^,  it  may  be  simply  frmed  eitl'.er^^orf  or  after  the  exiiaustion  oi  the  Euphratca.i 
ivaUrs.  Tiie  event  alone  can  determine  :  but  the  previous  probabihty  is,  that  it 
will  be  formed  at  no  very  remote  period yi-^ro  that  exhaustion,  either  prior  to  it, 
or  pjDsterior  to  it.  Now  the  chief  of  this  confederacy  is  declared  to  be  the  Roman  beaa 
ttniLr  his  Liit  or  Carlw-jrugian  head  ;  and  One  member  of  it  is  declared  to  hs  the  false  pro- 
phet or  the  Papu.y.  But,  unless  I  greatly  mistake,  recent  events  have  identified  the 
^nfdel  ting,  who  i.;  to  imdertake  an  expedition  to  Palestine  at  the  time  of  the  end,  with 
the  Romati  beast  under  lis  last  head,  who  is  to  do  the  very  same  in  conjunction  with 
a  formidable  confederacy.  Do  we  behold  tlien  any  appeanmcc  of  such  a  confederacy  as 
that  described  by  St.  John  ;  namely  a  confederacy  of  the  beast  under  his  Carlovingian 
head,  the  false  Rsniish  prophet,  and  the  I'assal  kings  of  the  enslaved  Latin  earth  ?  Do  We 
behold  it  likewise  at  the  very  time  when  we  had  reason  to  suppose  it  -would  appear ; 
Bamely  when  the  E/fbrntean  iralers  were  rapidly  drying  up,  and  when  thcir  coai- 


223 

sources,  whence  the  impure  spirits  are  said  to  issue,  it 
appears,  that  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet^  for  a  season 
at  variance  by  reason  of  the  atheistical  principles  adopt- 
ed by  the  former,  will  then  be  more  closely  leagued  to- 
Sjether  than  ever  ;  and  that  they  will  jointly  meditate 
some  grand  expedition  against  the  woman  and  the  remnant 
of  her  seed^  which  however,  as  we  shall  presently  see 
under  the  succeeding  via/,  will  end  only  in  their  own 
confusion  and  utter  destruction.* 

SECTION    III. 

Concerning  the  vial  oj  the  vintage. 

We  are  now  arrived  at  the  vial  of  consummation^  which 
Mr.  Mede  very  justly  supposes  to  synchronize  with  the 
vintage.  The  reason  is  manifest :  the  vintao'e  is  the  last 
event  predicted  in  the  little  book,  which  extends,  as  itself 
repeatedly  declares,  through  the  zohole  1260  years ;  and 

plete  exhaustion  seemed  to  be  at  no  very  great  distance  ?  Is  there  any  answer 
necessary  to  these  questions  ?  If  there  he,  view  the  modern  Charlemagne  first 
leaguing  himself  with  the  Papacy,  and  then  creating  at  pleasure  a  host  of  -vassal 
lings.  View  him  extending  his  dominion  over  the  greatest  part  of  Germany,  over 
Holland,  over  Italy,  over  Spain.  View  Jiim  surrounding  himself  v/ith  regal  sLtvcs,. 
who  depend  upon  his  nod,  and  exist  only  by  his  will.  Lastly  hear  him,  as  if  un- 
consciously impelled  to  bear  his  testimony  to  the  truth  of  prophecy ;  hear  him 
unreservedly  avov/  himself  to  be  the  federal  head  of  his  creatures,  hear  him  proclaim 
10  all  Europe  that  their  mock  sovereignties  are  mere  federal  estates  of  France,  heir 
the  political  system  of  which  he  is  the  author  expressly  styled  in  his  degraded 
senate  a  confederacy  and  a  pious  league.  What  Other  idea  can  we  form  of  the  coaliticn 
described  by  St.  jolin  ?  In  every  particular,  local  and  chronological,  this  ne-w  coa- 
lition, unheard  of,  unthought  of,  but  the  other  day,  exactly  answers  to  it.  Even 
now  rumours  are  afloat,  that  the  seat  of  the  false  prophet  \s  to  be  removed  from 
Rome,  and  that  the  new  empire  is  to  be  inaugurated  by  another  imperial  coronatiou 
in  the  seven-hilled  city.  If  so,  what  title  will  be  chosen  but  that  of  Emperor  of  the 
Rovians  ?  And  for  what  purpose  would  that  title  be  chosen,  but  as  authorizing 
all  the  ancient  claims  of  tlie  Augustan  emperors  ?  The  demands  made  upon  Turkey 
by  the  sovereign  of  Venice  will  be  as  nothing,  if  we  may  judge  from  tiie  inordinate- 
ambition  of  the  man,  w!ien  compared  with  the  demands  made  upon  the  vvholf 
world  by  the  Emperor  of  the  Franco-Romans.      June  4,  1806. 

*  Since  these  three  unclean  spirits  are  said  to  work  miracles,  the  great  boast  of  the 
apostate  man  of  sin,  it  is  not  improbable,  that  the  I'isible  agents,  whom  they  will  em- 
ploy on  this  occasion,  will  be  certain  popish  emissaries,  who  partly  at  least  by  false 
miracles  will  induce  the  infatuated  adherents  of  the  Church  of  Rome  to  embark  in 
the  expedition.  "  Pugnarc  se  putant  pro  Christi  vicario,  pro  gloria  Dei,  et  pro  ec- 
clesia  :  revera  autem  pugnabunt  cum  Deo."  (Pol.  Synop.  in  loc.)  Mr.  Mann  of 
the  Charter  House  conjectured  some  years  since,  that  the  three  unclean  spirits  were  th- 
Dominicans,  the  Franciscans,  and  the  Jesuits.  (See  Bp.  Newton's  Dissert,  on  Rev.  xvi.> 
I  should  rather  have  said,  that  these,  or  some  other  orders  of  menks,  may  he-cafirr 
he  the  tools  of  th;  three  unclean  spirits. 


224 

the  last  vial  is  poured  out  at  the  expiration  of  that  period : 
consequently  the  last  vial  can  onl}'  contain  an  enlarged 
account  o^  the  vintage  :  for,  as  Mr.  Mede  naturally  ob- 
serves, there  cannot  be  izi)0  different  Catastropljes  of  the 
$ame  drama.* 

"  And  the  seventh  angel  poured  out  his  vial  into  the 
air :  and  there  came  a  great  voice  out  of  the  temple  of 
heaven,  from  the  throne,  saying,  It  is  done.  And  there 
were  voices,  and  thunders,  and  lightnings  ;  and  there  was 
a  great  earthquake,  such  as  was  not  since  men  were  upon 
the  earth,  so  mighty  an  earthquake  and  so  great.  And 
the  great  city  was  divided  into  three  parts  ;  and  the  cit- 
ies of  the  nations  fell :  and  great  Babylon  came  in  re- 
membrance before  God,  to  give  unto  her  the  cup  of  the 
wine  of  the  fierceness  of  his  wrath.  And  every  island 
fled  away,  and  the  mountains  were  not  found.  And 
there  fell  upon  men  a  great  hail  out  of  heaven,  every 
stone  about  the  weight  of  a  talent  :  and  men  blasphemed 
God  because  of  the  plague  of  the  hail  :  for  the  plague 
thereof  was  exceeding  great. ^' 

Bp.  Newton  very  justly  observes,  that,  "  as,  the  seventh 
seal^  and  the  seventh  trumpet,  contained  many  more  par- 
ticulars, than  an^  o'i  the  former  seals  ax\(\  former  trum^ 
pets  :  so  the  seventh  vial  contains  more  than  any  of  the 
former  vials."  It  is  the  vial  of  the  vintage;  the  conclu- 
sion o^  the  grand  drama  of  \Q,bO  years  ;  the  time  of  the 
end.  When  it  shall  be  poured  out,  the  great  controversy 
of  God  with  the  nations  will  commence ;  his  ancient 
people  will  begin  to  be  restored  ;  and  thb  sentence  of  de- 
struction will  go  forth  against  the  beast  and  the  false  pro- 
phet, even  while  they  are  in  the  very  midst  of  their  tem- 
porary success,  and  while  they  are  vainly  flattering  them- 
selves with  the  hope  of  a  complete  victory  over  the 
Church  of  God.  Such  being  its  contents,  it  is  said  to  be 
poured  out  into  the  air,  in  allusion  to  the  dreadfVil  storms 
oi  }po\\Uva\  thunder  and  lightning  which  it  will  produce. -j* 

Three  important  events  are  comprehended  under  it :  the 
curthqiiakCy  by  which  the  great  citif  is  divided  into  three 

*  See  Mede's  Comment.  Apoc.  in  Vindemiam. 
f   See  the  preceding-  chapter  on  ihc  symbolical  language  nfjirophicy. 


925 

parts  ;  the  overthrow  of  Babijlon ;  and  the  battle  of  Ar- 
mn^eddon^  to  which  the  kings  of  the  earth  had  begun  to 
gather  themselves  together  under  the  preceding  vial. 

Here  it  may  be  proper  to  remind  the  reader,  that  the 
seventeenth.,  eighteenth.,  and  nineteenth  chapters  of  the 
Apocalypse,  all  belong^  to  the  last  vial ;  and  are  in  fact  on- 
ly a  more  enlarged  account  of  some  of  the  most  promi- 
nent events  contained  by  it* — The  seventeenth  chapter 
opens  with  a  description  o{  the  great  scarlet  whore.,  who 
had  long  tyrannized  over  the  faithful,  and  who  was  now 
about  to  be  destroyed  for  ever.  It  fully  sets  forth  the 
mystery  of  her  union  with  her  beast.,  of  her  name  Babif^ 
Ion.,  of  the  three-fold  state  of  her  beast.,  of  the  rise  of  ike 
beast's  last  head.,  and  of  the  flourishing  condition  o{  the 
woman  while  the  ten  kings  gave  their  power  to  the  beast 
and  made  war  upon  the  Lamb  by  persecuting  his  disci- 
ples. And  it  intimates  that  a  great  change  should  nev- 
ertheless take  place  in  the  sentiments  oi  those  kings.,  so 
that  they  should  afterwards  hate  the  whore^  and  make  her 
naked,  and  eat  her  flesh,  and  burn  her  with  fire.  This 
intimation  seems  to  be  given  as  it  were  by  the  way,  and 
must  not  therefore  be  confined  merely  to  the  days  of  the 
last  vial.  It  is  in  fact  a  sort  of  climax,  extending  from 
the  era  o^  the  Reformation  down  to  the  final  destruction 
of  the  whore.  She  was  first  made  naked  and  desolate  by 
the  alienation  of  the  Abbey  lands  in  protestant  countries, 
and  by  the  withdrawing  of  whole  nations  from  her  com- 
munion. Her  very  flesh  was  next  eaten  by  the  sale  of 
the  Church  lands  in  revolutionary  France,  by  the  secu- 
larization of  the  German  ecclesiastical  electorates  and 
monastic  principalities,  and  by  the  temporary  erection 
of  an  atheistical  republic  in  her  capital.  But  she  will  not 
be  utterly  burnt  with  fire  till  the  time  of  the  end.,  till  the 
fatal  day  of  Armageddon.'f     The  ten  kings  however,  as 

*   See  the  introductory  chapter  of  ibis  -zvori. 

■}•  In  the  same  battle  with  the  little  Lorn  or  the  harlot  the  Roman  beast  under  his  last 
head  WiW  perish.  "  I  beheld  then  because  of  the  voice  of  the  great  words  which  the 
horn  spake  :  I  beheld,  even  till  the  beast  was  slain,  and  his  body  destroyed,  and  given 
to  the  burning  flame."  (Dan.  vii.  11.)  I  apprehend,  thai  the  explanatory  words  of 
the  angel  addressed  to  Daniel  mean  precisely  the  same  as  the  particular  passage  in 
the  Apocalypse  now  under  consideration.  "They  shall  take  away  his  dominion,  to 
consume  and  to  destroy  it  unto  the  end."     (Dan.  vii.  2*7.)     The  dominion  of  the  horn 


S26 

Bp.  Newton  rigbtly  observes,  cannot  literally  mean  all 
the  ten  kings,  but  only  a  certain  part  of  them  ;  iox  some 
are  afterwards  described  as  leagued  with  the  heast^  and 
as  fighting  and  perishing  in  the  cause  oi  the  false  proph- 
et :*  consequently  those,  who  are  friendly  to  the  whore, 
cannot  be  among  the  number  of  those  who  are  instru- 
ments in  the  hand  of  God  of  finally  burning  her  with 
fire — The  eighteenth  chapter  contains  an  account  oi  the 
final  overthrow  of  Babijlon — And  the  nineteenth  chapter 
describes  the  battle  o{  Armageddon. 

1.  The  earthquake^  by  which  the  great  citij  is  divided 
into  three  parts,  manifestly  signifies,  according  to  the 
usual  import  of  prophetic  language,  some  verij  great  rev- 
olution, by  which  the  Latin  Empire  shall  either  be  divid- 
ed into  three  sovereignties,  or  into  three  prefectures, 
like  the  ancient  Roman  empire.  At  the  period  when  the 
French  monarchij  was  overthrown,  the  citij  was  already 
divided  m\o  several  different  paints,  symbolized  by  the  ten 
horns  oi  the  beast.  Hence  it  is  said,  that,  in  that  earth- 
quake,  a  tenth  paH  of  the  city  fell.     But  here,  by  this  yet 

future  earthquake,  the  Latin  city  is  to  be  divided  only  in- 
to three  parts.-f  What  the  precise  meaning  of  this  pre- 
diction is,  and  how  the  c%  will  be  divided  into  three  parts, 
time  alone  can  discover. 

2.  The  fall  of  the  spiritual  Babi/lon,  described  at  large 
in  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  the  Apocalypse,  relates  to  the 
same  event  as  the  destruction  of  the  little  horn  of  DaniePs 

fourth  beast :  they  both  equally  predict  Me  complete  sub- 
version of  the  Fapacij.     This  is  not  to  take  place,  till  af- 

began  to  be  taken  away  at  the  Reformation,  when  many  of  the  kings  withdrew 
their  reahns  from  tlie  spiritual  iurisdiction  of //^f  i'o/'f;  but  it  will  not  be  entirely 
consumed  and  destroyed  till  the  end,  until  the  words  of  God  shall  be  fulfilled. 

*  Rev.  xix.  19. 

f  Mr.  Kett  imagines  that  the  earthquake,  by  which  the  great  city  was  divided  into 
three  parts,  is  the  Reformation  ;  and  that  the  three  parts,  intended  by  the  prophet,  are 
the  three  confessions  (as  they  are  Called)  Popish,  Lutheran,  and  Cal-vinistic.  Vol.  j.  p. 
413.)  We  cannot  however  admit  this  earihquahe  to  have  any  connection  with  that 
important  period,  unless  by  a  manifest  violation  of  St.  John's  prophetic  chronology. 
The  earthquake,  which  divides  the  city  into  three  parts,  takes  place  under  the  last  vial : 
whereas  the  reforma:ioH  is  contemporary  with  the  loar  of  the  beast  against  the  ivitnesses, 
and  happened  under  the^  sixth  trumpet,  before  any  one  of  all  the  seven  vials  was  poured 
out.  Mr.  Kett,  as  if  conscious  that  this  objection  would  be  made  to  his  scheme, 
endeavours  to  invalidate  it ;  but,  I  think,  quite  unsuccessfully. 


297 

ter  the  end  of  the  1260  years  ;*  when  the  zi)itnesses  shall 
have  ceased  to  prophesy  in  sackcloth,  and  when  in 
one  apocalyptic  season  thejiidirment  of  Bub  if  Ion  is  come. 
3.  Exactly  contemporary  with  the  fall  of  the  spiritual 
Babylon^  or  the  adulterous  church  of  Rome,  will  be  the 
overthrow  of  its  supporter  the  secular  Babij/on,  or  the  ten- 
horned  Roman  beast.'f  The  power  of  both  will  be  brok- 
en in  the  same  battle  of  Armageddon.  This  is  abundant- 
ly manifest  from  the  concurring  testimony  both  of  Dan- 
iel and  St.  John.  We  learn  from  the  former  of  these 
prophets,  that  the  last  or  Roman  beast  is  to  be  slain,  and 
his  body  destroyed  and  given  to  the  burning  flame  be- 
cause of  the  voice  of  the  great  words  which  his  little  horn 
spake  ;  and  that  the  reign  oithis  little  horn  is  exactly  to 
continue  1260  ijears.  We  learn  from  the  latter  of  them, 
that  the  same  ten-horned  Roman  beast  is  to  practise  pros- 
perously, in  his  revived  or  idolatrous  state,  the  very  same 
period  of  42  months  or  1260  years ;  and  that  he  is  to  be 
destroyed,  along  with  his  colleague  the  false  prophet  or 
tzoo-horned  beast,  in  their  last  great  battle  against  the 
Word  of  God.  Now  the  two-horned  beast  or  false  proph- 
et is  the  same  ecclesiastical  power  as  tlie  harlot  or  spirit- 
ual Babylon  :  consequently,  \^the  spiritual  Baby  Ion  were 
fallen  before  this  battle,  it  is  evident  that  the  false  proph- 
et could  not,  along  with  the  temporal  beast,  have  been 
engaged  in  it.  Hence  it  appears,  that  the  fall  of  the  spir- 
itual Babylon  and  the  battle  of  Armageddon  will  be  pre- 
cisely contemporary,  both  taking  place  together  after  the 
termination  oi  the  1260  years.^ 

*  Probably  at  the  end  of  30  years  after  that  period,  or  at  the  end  of  Daniel's  1 290 
years. 

f  I  have  already  stated  that  Babylon  meaps  the  ivhole  Roman  Empire  both  temporal 
and  spiritual  :  the  temporal  Babylon  being  the  same  as  the  ten-horned  beast  ,•  and  the  spir' 
itual  Babylon,  as  the  tivo-horned  beast. 

^  Mr.  Mede  separates  the  fall  of  Babylon  from  the  o-verthro-w  of  the  false  prophet,  and 
imagines  that  in  point  of  time  \t  will  precede  it.  This  opinion  is  built  upon  the 
idea,  that  Babylon  is  the  literal  city  of  Rome,  instead  of  the  ivhole  papal  empire.  I  can- 
not think,  that  it  is  by  any  means  well  founded,  or  that  it  at  all  harmonizes  with  the 
general  language  of  the  Apocalypse,  in  which  the  great  city  universally  means,  not 
the  literal  city,  but  the  empire,  of  Rome.  This  being  the  case,  wlienever  the  beast  and  the 
false  prophet  are  routed  at  Armageddon,  the  temporal  and  spiritual  Roman  empire,  or  the 
mystic  Babylon,  will  be  overthrown.  Mr.  Mode  places  the  fall  of  Babylon  under //i* 
ffih  vial,  and  the  destruction  of  the  beast  and  th.' false  prophet  under  the  last.  Comment, 
^poc.  in  Phial.  V.  et  V!I. 


228 

As  for  the  battle  of  Armageddon^  in  which  the  beast 
and  the  false  j^rophet  are  to  be  overthrown,  1  take  it  to 
be  the  concluding  event  of  the  time  of  trouble  such  as 
never  Koas  since  there  was  a  nation,  mentioned  by  Daniel. 
It  is  the  same  likewise  as  the  dreadful  slaughter  of  the 
Gentiles  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Jerusalem.,  predicted  in 
such  forcible  terms  by  Zechariah  and  Joel.  This  will 
sufficiently  appear  from  comparing,  as  1  shall  presently 
do,  all  these  different  prophecies  together.  At  the  close 
of  the  time  of  trouble  foretold  by  Daniel,  the  infidel  king 
is  to  come  to  his  end,  none  helping  him  ;  and  at  the  be- 
ginm?ig  of  the  time  of  trouble.,  which  synchronizes  with 
the  first  effusion  of  the  seventh  vial  and  with  the  termina- 
tion of  the  1260  years,  the  restoration  of  the  Jews  is  to 
commence.  At  the  period  of  the  great  battle  of  the  na- 
tions, described  by  Zechariah  and  Joel,  which  synchro- 
nizes with  the  destruction  of  the  infdel  king  and  the  bat- 
tle of  Armageddon,  the  Jeivs  are  represented  as  having 
been  brought  back  to  their  own  country.  While,  in  the 
battle  of  Armageddon,  predicted  by  St.  John,  which  I 
apprehend  to  be  the  last  event  under  the  seventh  vial,  the 
beast,  the  false  prophet,  and  the  kings  of  the  Latin  earth., 
are  to  be  completely  routed  with  dreadful  slaughter  by 
the  Almighty  Word  of  God ;  and  an  end  is  for  ever  to  be 
put  to  their  tyrannical  and  persecuting  domination  over 
the  Church. 

The  beast,  who  is  to  take  so  active  a  part  in  this  last 
great  struggle,  is  the  same  septimo-octave  head  as  that, 
which  St.  John  had  before  identified  even  with  theiohole 
heast  himself,^  To  which  horn  of  the  beast  the  dignity 
of  the  Carlovingian  Emperorship  of  the  zvestern  Roman 
zvorld  will  then  be  attached,  it  is  impossible  to  determine 
before  the  event.  Humanly  speaking,  it  seems  upon  the 
eve  of  quitting  for  ever  the  horn  of  Austria.  Should  this 
be  the  case,  and  should  it  once  more  revert  to  Fra??ce 
along  with  the  old  Carlovingian  sovereignt/j  of  Jtalif,f 

*  Rev.  xvii.  11. 

■}•  Since  this  was  written  inthe  year  1804,  the  Cailovingian  sovereignty  of  Italy 
ias  reverted  to  France.     May,  1805. 

And  I  may  now  add,  that  yet  more  recently  tlie  Carlovingian  Emperorship  of  the 
West  has  been  transferred  to  France  ;  consequentlv  tbc  lufidd  Hug  and  ibi:  last  head  of 
?5fl  i.'iH^  are  ROW  identified.     June  5,  1806. 


229 

the  infidel  kinsf-,  at  the  close  of  the  great  apostatic  drama, 
would  be  identified  with  the  last  head  of  the  beast.  As 
for  the  fa: se  prophet,  who  is  to  be  one  of  his  aUies  in 
this  impious  war,  we  have  aheady  beheld  a  political  re- 
conciliation, or,  as  it  is  styled,  a  concordat  between  him 
and  Antichrist  :*  the  contrariety  therefore  of  In/idclttf/ 
to  Poperi/  will  be  no  impediment  to  the  accomplishment 
of  the  prophecy,  that  the  beast -and  the  false  prophet  shall 
be  taken  banded  in  arms  together.  And,  with  regard  to 
the  possibility  of  uniting  all  the  Popish  powers  in  one 
common  confederacy,  the  growing  influence  o^ papistico- 
injidel  France,  and  the  ease  with  which  she  compels  the 
surrounding  vassal  states  to  take  up  arms  in  her  cause, 
sufficiently  shew,  even  without  the  aid  of  prophecy,  that 
such  an  union  is  not  only  possible,  but  2}robable.-\ 

The  preceding  vial  testifies,  that,  after  this  confederacif 
has  been  formed,  it  will  be  gathered  together  by  secret 
diabolical  agency  to  Armageddon,  subsequently  to  the 
downfall  oi  the  Ottoman  empire  :  and  there  is  every  rea- 
son to  believe,  that  it  will  be  directed  at  once  against  the 
converted  Jews  now  beginning  to  be  restored  by  the  pre- 
vailing maritime  power  of  the  day,  and  against  their  pro- 
tectors the  protestant  maritime  states  which  keep  the 
commandments  of  God  and  which  have  the  testimony  of 
Jesus  Christ.  Hence  it  will  probably  be  a  sort  of  infer- 
nal league  or  crusade  of  all  the  at heistico-pupal powers 
against  the  converted  Jews  and  their  defenders  the  Prot- 
estants ;  of  the  South  against  the  North  of  Europe  ;  of  the 
dragon  and  his  adherents  against  the  sijmbolical  womait 
and  the  remnant  of  her  seed.  The  time  of  the  e)id  how- 
ever is  not  yet  arrived  :  and  few  probably  of  the  present 
generation  will  live  to  behold  even  tlie  beginning  of  the 
restoration  of  the  Jews  and  the  commencement  of  the  Anti- 
christian  expedition  to  Palestine,  still  less   therefore  the 

*  It  may  be  observed,  that  Bp.  Newton  here  attain  considers  //'(■  l/c.7st,  not  as  //,- 
Papacy,  but  as  the  temporal  Latin  empire  ;  while  he  justly  conceives  the  false  prophet  to. 
mean  the  ecclesiastical  poiver  of  the  Pope.  "  These  enemies  are  the  beast  and  the  fahr 
prophet,  the  Antichristian  powers  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  with  their  armies  gathered  lo- 
gether,  their  adherents  and  followers  combined  and  determined  to  support  idolatry, 
and  to  oppose  all  reformation."     Dissert,  on  Rev.  xix. 

f  I  have  already  observed  In  a  preceding  note,  that,  since  this  was  written,  we  have 
reason  to  believe  that  the  bestial  confederacy  has  begun  to  be  formed.     June  5,  1806. 


230 

dreadful  confusion  of  Armageddon  with  which  that  expe- 
dit'ion  terminates.*  Whether  at  this  period  the  infdel 
king  is,  or  is  not,  to  have  become,  like  his  predecessor 
Charlemagne, f  the  last  head  of  the  beast^  who  shall  ven- 
ture now  to  determine?  Tins  at  least  is  certain,  that  he 
will  be  a  very  principal  actor  in  "  the  time  of  trouble 
such  as  never  was  since  there  was  a  nation." 

As  I  have  more  than  once  hinted  at  the  probability  of 
the  last  head  of  the  beast ^  or  the  Gothic  Fairicio- Emper- 
orship of  the  Romans^  becoming  at  the  time  of  the  end 
attached  to  the  horn  of  France^  as  it  heretofore  was  in 
the  days  of  Charlemagne,  1  shall  here  simply  state  the 
declarations  of  concurring  prophecies  relative  to  this  sub- 
ject, and   leave  the  reader  to  draw  his  own  conclusions. 

Daniel  predicts,  that,  at  the  time  of  the  end  or  the  close 
of  the  1^60  ijears^  the  infidel  king  shall  engage  in  a  war 
of  extermination  under  the  pretext  of  religion  ;  that,  in 
the  prosecution  of  this  nefarious  project,  he  shall  invade 
Palestine^  and  occupy  the  glorious  holy  mountain;  but 
that  eventually  he  shall  perish  between  the  tzoo  seas, 
namely  the  Dead  sea  and  the  Mediterranean  sea.  The 
prophet,  absorbed  as  it  were  in  contemplating  the  vast 
power  of  this  impious  monster,  does  not  notice  any  con- 
federates with  whom  he  might  be  leagued  ;  but  speaks 
merely  o^ the  king  himself  as  being  the  very  life  and  soul 
of  the  whole  expedition,  as  being  peculiarly  both  its  con- 
triver and  executor. 

Such  is  the  prediction  of  Daniel.  In  a  similar  man- 
ner, St.  John  declares,  that,  under  the  last  vial  and  con- 
sequently after  the  close  of  the  same  1260  years^  a  grand 
confederacy  of  the  beast,  the  false  prophet,  and  the  kings 
of  the  Latin  earth,  shall  be  utterly  overthrown  at  Megid^ 

*  I  speak  of  course  on  the  supposition  that  I  am  right  in  my  date  of  t/^e  1260years, 
Should  I  be  so  mistaken  as  that  they  terminate  earlier  than  I  apprehended,  the  events 
nf  fbt:  Ijst  vlul  and  of  Daniel's  time  of  unexampled  trouble  will  of  course  happen  so  much 
earlier. 

f  Buonaparte  effects,  upon  all  occasions,  to  ape  the  style  and  dignity  of  Charle- 
magne :  and  no  moderation  of  cliaracter,  vvhicli  he  has  yet  displayed,  gives  us  any 
reason  to  doubt  tliat  he  wi^Jies  to  tread  in  the  steps  of  that  ambitious  conqueror.  It 
i'!  almost  superfluous  to  remind  the  reader,  that  the  infiJel  king  is  not  the  individual 
B.tcnapjril  nor  atiy  other  indfAdual,  but  the  infidel  lingdom  or  poiver  of  France. 

I  have  already  stated,  that  the  infdel  hing  may  now  be  conBidercd  as  identified  with 
the  Cn.-Urjhtgian  lead  of  the  beaJ.      June  >',  1  806. 


231 

^0^^  which  is  a  town  situated  between  the  tiao  seas  of 
Palestine  ;  and  that  the  wine-press  of  the  vintage  shall  be 
trodden  in  a  region  extending  1600  Jurlongs,  which  is 
the  exact  measure  of  the  Holy  land. 

Thus  it  appears,  that,  as  Daniel's  infidel  king  is  to  be 
the  grand  projector  and  manager  of  a  religious  war^  and 
is  to  perish  in  Palestine  between  the  tzvo  seas  after  the 
close  of  the  1260  years  :  so  the  apocalyptic  beast ^  that  is 
to  say  the  beast  under  his  last  head,  is  hkewise,  as  it  ap- 
pears from  his  union  with  the  false  prophet,  to  be  the 
main  promoter  and  manager  of  «  religious  zoar ;  which, 
precisely  like  the  religious  war  of  the  infidel  king,  is  to 
take  place  after  the  close  of  the  1260  years,  and  is  to  be 
decided  in  Palestine  oi  the  land  iv hie h  extends  \600  fur- 
longs, and  at  Megiddo  a  town  of  that  land  which  is  sit- 
uated betiveen  the  seas. 

So  exact  a  correspondence  both  of  time,  place,  and 
circumstance,  evidently  shews,  that  the  zcar  of  the  infidel 
king  is  the  same  as  the  zaar  of  the  beast  and  the  false 
prophet  :  and,  from  J3aniers  prediction,  we  can  scarcely 
consider  the  king  only  as  an  inferior  actor,  only  as  one 
of  the  subordinate  kings  represented  by  St.  John  as  leag- 
ued with  the  beast.  The  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from 
these  premises  I  leave  to  the  cautious  reader.f 

To  return  from  this  digression  ;  if  I  be  right  in  think- 
ing, that  the  gathering  together  of  the  kings  of  the  Latin 
earth  to  the  battle  of  Armageddon  is  an  expedition  of  a 
confederacy  of  popish  infidels  against  the  converted  Jews 

*  Armageddon  signifies  the  destruction  of  Megiddo. 

•}■  The  first  edition  of  this  Work  was  published  just  as  the  intelligence  of  the  fa- 
tally decisive  battle  of  Amterlitz  arrived.  The  rumours  of  a  directly  opposite  pur- 
port, that  prevailed  while  the  last  sheets  were  printing,  had  led  me  to  conclude  that 
the  time  was  not  yet  arrived  when  the  zvilfu I  tyrant  should  be  identified  with  the  Car- 
lovingian  bead  of  the  beast ;  ror,  though  I  certainly  expected  for  the  reasons  assigned 
above  that  sooner  or  later  that  time  ivould  arrive,  I  had  no  warrant  from  prophecy 
to  say  tuhen  it  would  arrive.  At  length  we  received  intelligence  of  the  disastrous 
issue  of  a  campaign,  which  has  made  the  atrocious  wretch,  whom  I  doubt  not  to  be 
an  instrument  of  vengeance  in  the  hand  of  a  justly  offended  God,  the  undisputed  repre- 
ientati've  of  Charlemagne,  the  uncontrolled  Emperor  of  the  ivestern  Roman  luorld.  Till  th:* 
period  the  chief  of  the  Louse  of  Austria  v/as  the  representative  of  Charlemagne  ;  but  his  in- 
fluence is  now  annihilated  in  Germany,  and  he  is  totally  driven  otit  of  every  part  of 
Italy.  Dispossessed  even  of  a  considerable  part  of  his  hereditary  dominions,  he  seems 
Jacitly  to  have  resigiied  his  ancient  title,  now  to  him  nothing  but  a  title,  and  to  hav« 
assumed  instead  of  it  that  of  Empfror  (which  in  hi?  case  is  Tirtuailv  the  snme  .13  cuV 
■King)  rfAuJTla.     June.',  1 896'.' 


232 

supported  by  the  professors  of  evangelical  Prof estantism^ 
the  opinion,  that  the  witnesses  will  not  be  subjected  to 
the  horrors  of  some  future  persecution,  receives  a  most 
abundant  confirmation*.  The  beast  and  the  false  prO' 
^^^/ indeed  shall  surely  gather  their  forces  together,  but 
not  by  the  Lord  :  for  no  weapon,  hereafter  formed 
against  the  Gospel,  shall  prosper  ;  and  whosoever  shall 
gather  together  against  it  shall  fall.  The  1260  ijears  of 
oppression  will  then  have  elapsed  ;  and  the  great  con- 
troversy of  Jehovah  with  his  enemies  will  then  have 
commenced.  Every  project  of  the  beast,  the  false  pro- 
phet, and  the  congregated  kings,  will  be  baffled  :  and 
sudden  destruction  will  come  upon  them  unawares  as  a 
thief  in  the  night.  Through  the  aid  of  the  great  cap- 
tain of  their  salvation,  those,  who  have  come  out  of 
Bahijlon,  shall  be  completely  victorious;  and  the  united 
tyranny  of  Popenj  and  Atheism  shall  for  ever  be  de- 
stroyed. 

Having  now  briefly  considered  the  three  grand  events 
comprehended  under  the  last  vial ;  namely  the  division 
of  the  great  citij  into  three  parts,  the  fall  of  the  spiritual 
J^ab/flon,  and  the  battle  oj  Armageddon :  1  shall  bring 
together  into  one  point  of  view  the  four  prophecies  of 
St.  John,  Daniel,  Zechariah,  and  Joel,  relative  to  the 
awful  events  with  which  the  1200  ifears  will  conclude  ; 
in  order  that,  by  comparing  them  with  each  other,  a  yet 
stronger  light  may  be  thrown  upon  this  period,  which  is 
destined  to  witness  not  only  the  overthrow  of  the  Anti- 
christian  faction  but  likewise  the  rest  oration  of  the  Jews. 

1.  "  And  1  saw  heaven  opened,  and  behold  a  white 
horse  ;  and  he,  that  sat  upon  him,  was  called  Faithful 
and  True,  and  in  righteousness  he  doth  jndge  and  make 
war.  And  his  eyes  were  as  a  flame  of  fire,  and  on  his 
head  were  many  crowns  ;  and  he  had  a  name  written, 
that  no  man  knew  but  he  himself.  And  he  was  cloth- 
ed with  a  vesture  dipped  in  blood  :  and  his  name  is  call- 
ed the  Word  of  God.  And  the  aripJes,  which  were  in 
heaven,  followed  him  upon  white  horses,  clothed  in  fine  p 

*  At  least  it  receives  confirmation,  so  far  as  protestant  countries  are  confirmed  ; 
though  the  txvo  -witnesses,  scattered  through  popish  regions,  will  continue  to  prophesy 
in  sackcloth  to  the  time  of  the  end.    This  distiuction  I  h^ve  already  stated  very  fully. 


i 


233 

linen,  white  and  clean.     And  out  of  his  mouth  goeth  a 
sharp  sword,  that  with  it  he  should  smite  the  nations  : 
and  he  shall  rule  them  with  a  rod  of  iron  :  and  he  tread- 
eth  the   winepress  of  the  fierceness  and   wrath  of  Al- 
mighty God.     And  he  hath  on  his  vesture  and  on  his 
thigh  a  name  written,  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords* 
And  I  saw  an  angel  standing  in  the  sun  :  and  he  cried 
with  a  loud  voice,  saying  to  all  the  fowls  that  fly  in  the 
midst  of  heaven,  Come  and  gather  yourselves  together 
unto  the  supper  of  the  great  God  ;  that  ye  may  eat  the 
flesh  of  kings,  and  the  flesh  of  captains,  and  the  flesh  of 
mighty  men,  and  the  flesh  of  horses,  and  of  them  that 
sit  on  them,  and  the  flesh  of  all  men,  both  free  and  bond, 
both  small  and  great.     And   1   saw    the   beast,  and   the 
kings  of  the  earth,  and  their  armies,  gathered  together  to 
make  war  against  him  that  sat  on  the  horse,  and  against 
his  army.     And  the  beast  was  taken,  and  with  him  the 
false   prophet  that   wrought  miracles   before   him,    with 
which  he  deceived  them  that  had  received  the  mark  of 
the  beast,  and  them  that  worshipped  his  image.     These 
both  were  cast  alive  into  a  lake  of  fire  burning  with  brim- 
stone.     And  the  remnant  were  slain  with  the  sword  of 
him  that  sat  upon  the  horse,  which  sword  proceeded  out 
of  his  mouth  :  and  all  the  fowls  were  filled  with  their 
flesh."* 

2.  "  I  beheld,  till  the  thrones  were  set,  and  the  An- 
cient of  days  did  sit,  whose  garment  was  white  as  snow, 
and  the  hair  of  his  head  like  the  pure  wool  :  his  throne 
was  like  the  fierv  flame,  and  his  wheels  as  burning:  fire. 
A  fiery  stream  issued,  and  came  forth,  from  before  him  : 
thousand  thousands  ministered  unto  him,  and  ten  thou» 
sand  times  ten  thousand  stood  before  him  :  the  judg- 
ment was  set,  and  the  books  were  opened.  I  beheld 
then  because  of  the  voice  of  the  great  words  which  the 
liff/e  horn  spake  :  I  beheld,  even  till  the  beast  was  slain, 
and  his  body  destroyed,  and  given  to  the  burning  flame 
—  The  little  horn  shall  wear  out  the  saints  of  the  Most 
High  ; — and  they  shall  be  given  into  his  hand  until  a 
time,  and  times,  and  the  dividing  of  time.     But   the 

*  Rer,  xix.  11—27, 
VOL.    IT.  SO 


234- 

judgment  shall  sit  ;  and  they  shall  take  away  his  domin- 
ion, to  consume  and  destroy  it  unto  the  end.  And  the 
kingdom,  and  dominion,  and  the  greatness  of  the  king- 
dom under  the  whole  heaven,  shall  be  given  to  the  peo- 
ple of  the  saints  of  the  Most  Hiyh,  whose  kingdom  is 
an  everlasting  kingdom,  and  all  dominions  shall  serve 
and  obey  him." 

*' And  a  king  shall  do  according  to  his  will  :— And  at 
the  time  of  the  end  a  king  of  the  south  shall  butt  at 
him  ;  and  a  king  of  the  north  shall  come  against  him 
like  a  whirlwind  with  chariots,  and  with  horsemen,  and 
many  ships.  Yet  he  shall  enter  into  the  countries,  and 
shall  overflow,  and  pass  over,  and  shall  enter  into  the 
glorious  land,  and  many  countries  shall  be  overthrown  ; 
but  these  shall  escape  out  of  his  hand,  even  Edom,  and 
Moab,  and  the  chief  of  the  children  of  Ammon.  He 
shall  stretch  forth  his  hand  also  upon  the  countries  :  and 
the  land  of  Egypt  shall  not  escape.  But  he  shall  have 
power  over  the  treasures  of  gold  and  silver,  and  over  all 
the  precious  things  of  Egypt :  and  the  Libyans  and  the 
Ethiopians  shall  be  at  his  steps.  But  tidings  out  of  the 
east  and  out  of  the  north  shall  trouble  him  :  therefore 
he  shall  go  forth  with  great  fury  to  destroy,  and  to  de- 
vote many  to  utter  destruction  under  the  pretext  of  re- 
ligion. And  he  shall  plant  the  curtains  of  his  pavilions 
between  the  seas  in  the  glorious  holv  mountain  :  yet  he 
shall  come  to  his  end  and  none  shall  help  him.  And  at 
that  time  shall  Michael  stand  up,  the  great  prince  which 
standeth  for  the  children  of  thy  people  ;  and  there  shall 
be  a  time  of  trouble,  such  as  never  was  since  there  was 
a  nation,  even  to  that  same  time  :  and  at  that  time  thy 
people  shall  be  delivered,  every  one  that  shall  be  found 
written  in  the  book.''* 

3.  "  Behold,  I  will  make  Jerusalem  a  cup  of  tremblin.2: 
unto  all  the  people  round  about,  when  they  shall  be  in 
the  siege  both  against  Judah  and  Jerusalem.  And  in 
that  day  will  1  make  Jerusalem  a  burthensome  stone  for 
all  people  :  all,  that  burthen  themselves  with  it,  shall  be 
cut  in  pieces,  though  all  the  people  of  the  earth  be  gath- 

*  Daii.  vil.  xi.  xii. 


23o 

ered  together  against  it.  In  that  day,  saith  the  Lord,  I 
will  smite  every  horse  with  astonishment,  and  his  rider 
with  madness  :  and  1  will  open  mine  eyes  upon  the 
house  of  Judah,  and  will  smite  every  horse  of  the  people 
with  blindness.  And  the  governors  of  Judah  shall  say 
in  their  heart,  The  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  shall  be  my 
strength  in  the  Lord  of  hosts  their  God.  In  that  day 
will  1  make  the  governors  of  Judah  like  an  hearth  of  fire 
among  the  wood,  and  like  a  torch  of  fire  in  a  sheaf ;  and 
they  shall  devour  all  the  people  round  about,  on  the 
right  hand  and  on  the  left  :  and  Jerusalem  shall  be  in- 
habited again  in  her  own  place,  even  in  Jerusalem.  The 
Lord  also  shall  save  the  tents  of  Judah  first,  that  the 
glory  of  the  house  of  David,  and  the  glory  of  the  inhab- 
itants of  Jerusalem  do  not  magnify  themselves  against 
Judah.  In  that  day  shall  the  Lord  defend  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Jerusalem  ;  and  he,  that  is  feeble  among  them, 
at  that  day  shall  be  as  David  ;  and  the  house  of  David 
shall  be  as  God,  as  the  angel  of  the  Lord  before  them. 
And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  I  will  seek  to 
destroy  all  the  nations  that  come  against  Jerusalem.  And 
I  will  pour  upon  the  house  of  David,  and  upon  the  in- 
habitants of  Jerusalem,  the  spirit  of  grace  and  of  suppli- 
cations :  and  they  shall  look  upon  me  whom  they  have 
pierced,  and  they  shall  mourn  for  him,  as  one  that 
mourneth  for  his  only  son,  and  shall  be  in  bitterness  for 
him,  as  one  that  is  in  bitterness  for  his  first-born.  In 
that  day  shall  there  be  a  great  mourning  in  Jerusalem, 
as  the  mourning  of  the  vinta!:e  slioutinii  of  llimmon  in 
the  valley  of  Megiddon.  And  the  land  shall  mourn  ev- 
ery family  apart — All  the  families  that  remain,  every 
family  apart,  and  their  wives  apart.  In  that  day  there 
shall  be  a  fountain  opened  to  the  house  of  David,  and  to 
the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  for  sin  and  for  uncleanness 
— And  one  shall  say  unto  him,  What  are  these  wounds  in 
thine  hands  ?  then  he  shall  answer,  Those  with  which  I 
was  wounded  in  the  house  of  my  friends — In  that  day 
shall  there  be  upon  the  bells  of  the  horses,  Holiness  un- 
to the  Lord  ;  and  the  pots  in  the  Lord's  house  shall  be 
like  the  bowls  before  the  altar.  Yea,  every  pot  in  Jerusa- 
lem and  in  Judah  shall  be  holiness  unto  the  Lord  of  hosts  : 


2.36 

and  all  they,  that  sacrifice,  shall  come  and  take  of  them, 
and  seethe  therein  :  and  in  that  day  there  shall  be  no 
more  a  trafficker  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  of  hosts."* 

4.  "  Blow  ye  the  trumpet  in  Zion,  and  sound  an  alarm 
in  my  holy  mountain  :  let  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  land 
tremble  :  for  the  day  of  the  Lord  cometh,  far  it  is  nigh 
at  hand  :  a  day  of  darkness,  and  of  gloominess,  a  day  of 
clouds  and  of  thick  darkness,  as  the  morning  spread  up- 
on the  mountains  :  a  great  people  and  a  strong  ;  there 
hath  not  been  ever  the  like,  neither  shall  there  be  any 
more  after  it,  even  to  the  years  of  many  generations. 'j" 
A  fire  devoureth  before  them  ;  and  behind  them  a  flame 
burneth  :  the  land  is  as  the  garden  of  liden  before  them, 
and  behind  them  a  desolate  wilderness  ;  yea,  and  nothing 
shall  escape  them — ^Before  their  faces  the  people  shall 
be  much  pained  :  all  faces  shall  gather  blackness — They 
shall  run  to  and  fro  in  the  city :  they  shall  run  upon  the 
wall  ;  they  shall  climb  up  upon  the  houses  ;  they  shall 
enter  in  at  the  windows  like  a  thief.  The  earth  shall 
quake  before  them  ;  the  heavens  shall  tremble  :  the  sun 
and  moon  shall  be  dark,  and  the  stars  shall  withdraw 
their  shining.  And  the  Lord  shall  utter  his  voice  before 
his  army :  for  his  camp  is  very  great  :  for  he  is  strong, 
that  executeth  his  word  :  for  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  great 
and  very  terrible  ;  and  who  can  abide  it  ? — Then  will 
the  Lord  be  jealous  for  his  land,  and  pity  his  people. 
Yea,  the  Lord  will  answer,  and  say  unto  his  people.  Be- 
hold, 1  will  send  you  corn,  and  wine,  and  oil ;  and  ye 

■^  *  Zechar.  xii.  xili.  xiv. 

f  I  apprehend,  that  by  this  expression  we  must  understand  the  last  attempt  of  Satan 
against  the  Lamb  at  the  close  of  the  Millennium  ;  when,  after  "  the  years  of  many  gen- 
erations" subsequent  to  the  outrages  of  "  the  great  and  strong  people"  here  predicted, 
he  shall  stir  up  from  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth  the  nations  styled  by  St.  John 
Gog  and  Magog.  Meanwhile,  during  the  millennian  rest,  there  shall  be  none  hke 
that  strong  people,  till  the  years  of  its  many  generations  shall  have  fully  elapsed. 
The  Gog  and  Magog,  mentioned  by  St.  John,  are  evidently  the  same  as  the  Gog  and 
Magog,  predicted  by  Ezekiel.  The  expedition  of  these  nations  against  Palestine 
bears  a  strong  resemblance  in  many  points  to  the  expedition  of  the  injidd  king  and  the 
false  prophet.  Yet  it  certainly  cannot  be  the  same,  both  because  St.  John  informs  us 
that  it  shall  take  place  at  the  end  of  the  Millennium  ;  and  because  Ezekiel,  in  strict 
correspondence  with  him,  asserts  that  it  shall  be  directed  against  the  Jews  so  long 
after  their  restoration  to  their  own  land,  that  they  should  be  divelling  there  in  all  the 
confidence  of  unsuspecting  security.  (See  Ezek.  xxxviii.  8,  11,  I'i,  14.)  The  ivar  of  Gog 
and  Magog  is  fully  discussed  in  my  unpublished  Werk  on  the  Restoration  of  Israel- 
itd  the  ni'erthrorv  of  Antichrist 


237 

shall  be  satisfied  therewith;  and  I  will  no  more  make  you 
a  reproach  among  the  heathen.  But  1  will  remove  far 
oiF  rrom  you  the  northern  army,  and  will  drive  him  into 
a  laud  barren  and  desolate,  with  his  face  toward  the 
east  sea,  and  his  hinder  part  toward  the  utmost  sea  : 
and  his  stink  shall  come  up,  and  his  ill  savour  shall 
come  up,  because  he  hath  done  great  things — Be  glad 
then  ye  children  of  Zion,  and  rejoice  in  the  Lord  your 
God — And  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  in  the  midst  of  Is- 
rael, and  that  1  am  the  Lord  your  God,  and  none  else  : 
and  my  people  shall  never  be  ashamed.  And  it  shall 
come  to  pass  afterwards,  that  I  will  pour  out  my  sjjirit 
upon  all  flesh  ;  and  your  sons  and  your  daughter's  shall 
prophesy,  your  old  men  shall  dream  dreams,  your  young 
men  shall  see  visions.*  And  I  will  shew  wonders  in 
the  heavens  and  in  the  earth,  blood,  and  fire,  and  pillars 
of  smoke.  The  sun  shall  be  turned  into  darkness,  and 
the  moon  into  blood,  before  the  great  and  the  terrible 
day  of  the  Lord  come.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that, 
whosoever  shall  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be 
delivered  :  for  in  mount  Zion  and  in  Jerusalem  shall  be 
deliverance,  as  the  Lord  hath  said,  and  in  the  remnant 
whom  the  Lord  shall  call.  For,  behold,  in  those  days, 
and  at  that  time,  when  I  shall  bring  again  the  captivity 
of  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  1  will  also  gather  all  nations, 
and  will  bring  them  down  into  the  valley  of  Jehosha- 
phat,  and  will  plead  with  them  there  for  my  people,  and 
for  my  heritage  Israel,  w4iom  they  have  scattered  among 
the  nations,  and  parted  my  land. — The  children  also  oi 
Judah,  and  the  children  of  Jerusalem,  have  ye  sold  un- 
to the  sons  of  the  lonim,-!*  that  ye  might  remove  them 

*  This  is  applied  by  St.  Peter  to  the  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit  cut  the  day  of  Pentecosi, 
though  strictly  relating  to  the  era  of  the  restoration  of  the  yezvs  and  the  glorious  period 
of  the  millennium.  The  first  advent  of  Christ  is  frequently  considered  by  the  inspired 
writers  as  a  sort  of  type  of  his  second  advent :  whence  we  find,  that  predictions, 
which  properly  belong  to  the  one  period,  are  often  applied  by  anticipation  to  ^^^  other. 
Thus,  in  a  similar  manner,  the  apostles  apply  the  prophecy  of  David,  in  the  second 
Psalm,  to  the  conspiracy  of  the  chief  priests  ivith  Herod  and  Pontius  Pilate  against  our 
Lord :  yet,  if  any  one  will  compare  that  second  Psalm  with  the  description  of  the  Word 
of  God  routing  his  congregated  enanies  in  the  nineteenth  chapter  of  the  Apccalypze,  he  Will 
be  convinced,  that  it  does  not  receive  its  ultimate  accomplighment  til!  the  seconi 
advent,  whether  literal  or  spiritual,  at  the  commencement  of  the  millenniutn. 

f  By  these  lonim  seem  to  be  meant  all  the  various  ivorthippers  of  the  loaab,  or  Noetic 
dovcf  both  in  the  East  and  in  the  West ;  not  rhe  Icr.-ans  of  Gncce  exclusively.     The 


238 

far  from  their  border.  Behold,  I  will  raise  them  out  of 
the  place  whither  ye  have  sold  them,  and  will  return 
3'our  recompence  upon  your  own  head  :  and  J  will  sell 
your  sons  and  your  daughters  into  the  hand  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Judah,  and  they  shall  sell  them  to  the  Sabeans, 
to  a  people  far  off :  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it.  Pro- 
claim ye  this  among  the  Gentiles  :  Sanctify*  war,  wake 
up  the  mighty  men  ;  let  all  the  men  of  war  draw  near  ; 
let  them  come  up.  Beat  your  plowshares  into  swords, 
and  your  pruning  hooks  into  spears  :  let  the  weak  say,  1 
am  strong.  Assemble  yourselves,  and  come,  ail  ye  na- 
tions, and  o-ather  yourselves  together  round  about :  thith- 
er  cause  th}'  mighty  ones  to  come  down,  O  Lord.  Let 
the  nations  be  wakened,  and  come  up  to  the  valley  of 
Jehoshaphat  :  for  there  will  I  sit  to  judge  all  the  nations 
round  about.  Put  ye  in  the  sickle,  for  the  harvest  is 
ripe  :  come,  get  you  down,  for  the  press  is  full,  the  fats 
overiiow  :  for  their  wickedness  is  great.  Multitudes, 
multitudes,  in  the  valley  of  concision.  The  sun  and  the 
moon  shall  be  darkened,  and  the  stars  shall  withdraw 
their  shininu".  The  Lord  also  shall  roar  out  of  Zion,  and 
litter  his  voice  from  Jerusalem  ;  and  the  heavens  and 
the  earth  shall  shake  :  but  the  Lord  will  be  the  hope  of 
his  people,  and  the  strength  of  the  children  of  Israel.  So 
shall  ye  know,  that  I  am  the  Lord  your  God  dwelling  in 
Zion  my  holy  mountain  :  then  shall  Jerusalem  be  holy, 
and  there  shall  no  strangers  pass  through  her  any  more.^f 
Such  are  the  four  most  remarkable  prophecies^  which 
treat  of  the  events  that  are  to  take  place  at  the  close  of 
ihe\^ij(d years. %  Those  of  Daniel  and  St.  John  are  strict- 
ly chronological  ones,  and  are  therefore  in  some  meas- 
ure their  own  interpreters  :  and,  as  for  those  of  Zechariah 
and  Joel,  although  they  be  not  marked  by  the  chronolog- 

<jhj>:rslon  of  the  "Jcivs  extends  nearlv  to  the  Vv'hole  world :  and  so  widely,  in  old  times, 
tiid  iljc  ivoi-ihip  of  the  lonah  also  extend.  I  Jiave  already  considered  the  subject  in  a 
Disserlai'inn  un  the  Mysteries  of  the  Cain}. 

*  So  the  word  is  properly  rendered  iu  the  margin  of  our  translation  of  the  Bible. 

f  Joel  ii.  ii). 
1  To  discuss  all  th.e  prophecies  relative  to  those  events  would  occupy  too  large 
ii  portion  of  a  Work  like  the  present,  which  professes  to  treat  peculiarly  of  the  events 
comprehended  icithin  the  liJoO  yeais.  The  restoration  of  Israel  and  the  overthroiv  ff 
Antid'ri.'U  which  are  here  very  briefly  noticed,  are  considered  at  large  in  my  unpub- 
lished Work,  which  is  professediv  dedicated  to  that  purpose. 


*i»». 


239 

ical  numbers  and  the  long-continued  and  connected  se- 
ries of  events  which  form  so  striking  a  feature  of  tlie  other 
predictions,  yet  they  contain  within  them  facts  which 
are  amply  sufficient  to  shew  at  what  era  they  will  be  ac- 
complished. They  both  foretell  t/ie  restoration  of  the 
Jews  :  consequently  all  the  matters,  of  which  they  speak 
as  connected  with  that  restoration^  must  be  the  same 
matters  as  those  of  which  Daniel  speaks  as  bein^-  similarly 
connected  with  it.  tience  it  will  follow,  that  the  de- 
struction of  the  nations  in  the  vicinitif  of  Jerusalem^  pre- 
dicted by  Zechariah  as  contemporary  with  the  restoration 
of  the  Jeza^s,  must  be  the  same  as  the  overthrow  of  the 
infidel  king  in  Palestine,  predicted  by  Daniel  as  likewise 
contemporary  with  the  restoration  of  the  J ezcs.  Hence 
also  it  will  follow,  that  the  fierce  people  symbolized  by  a 
fight  of  locusts,  so  accurately  described  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  prediction  of  Joel,  as  spreading  desolation 
•wherever  they  come,  as  wonderfully  succeeding  in  all 
their  enterprizes,  as  running  to  and  fro  in  the  great  city, 
as  scaling  the  walls  of  fenced  cities  with  open  violence, 
as  entering  insidiously  in  at  the  windows  like  a  thief, 
as  causing  tremendous  revolutions  in  the  political  heav- 
ens ;  that  this  fierce  people  can  be  rn  other  than  the  peo- 
ple of  D aniens  infidel  king,  who  are  to  commence  their 
reign  of  havock  and  plunder  under  the  third  woe-trumpet, 
during  the  comparatively  short  time  which  the  devil  hath 
before  the  termination  of  the  1260  years,  before  the  com- 
mencement of  the  restoration  of  the  Jews*  It  will  like- 
wise follow,  that  the  invasion  of  Palestine  hij  the  northeni 
army,  or  the  artny  of  Antichrist  entering  it  by  waij  of  iha 
north,  is  the  same  as  the  similar  expedition  of  the  infidel 
king  :  and  that  the  destruction  of  this  northern  vrmij  with 
its  face  to  the  eastern  sea,  and  its  hinder  part  toward  the 
utmost  sea,  is  the  same  event  as  the  destruction  of  the  i?i~ 
fidel  king,  after  he  has  planted  the  curtains  of  his  pavil- 
ions between  the  seas  in  the  glorious  holy  mountain ;  for 

*  Since  the  first  edition  of  this  work  was  published,  I  have  read  Chandler's  Par- 
aphrase of  Joel,  and  am  more  convinced  than  ever  I  was,  that  thi;=  loc-ust-army  can- 
hot  mean  ajiight  of  mere  literal  locusts  as  he  supposes,  but  must  denote,  like  the  paral- 
lel prophecy  in  Rev.  ix.  a  fight  of  symbolical  locusts  ;  which  symbolical  loci!sts~Ca.Q\who\r: 
context  of  the  prediction  teaches  us  must  mean  the  desolating  armies  of  Antichrisi. 
This  noiut  is  fullv  discu--s?d  in  mv  iinpiib'iohed  ^^'^lr'^r  on  'A.-  J^-f'^ra''-^-  '■■f  T<t.i-!. 


240 

in  both  cases,  the  scene  is  equally  laid  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Jerusalem  between  the  eastern  or  dead  sea^  and 
the  iii:estern  or  mediterranean  sea.  It  will  lastly  follow, 
that  the  great  battle  of  the  nations^  in  the  valley  of  Jeho- 
shaphat^  is  the  same  as  the  great  battle  of  the  beast.,  the  false 
prophet^  and  the  kings,  at  Armageddon;  and  as  the  con- 
clusion oi  the  time  of  unexampled  trouble,  during  which 
Daniel,  like  Joel,  predicts  that  the  restoration  of '  the  Jews 
will  take  place. 

It  appears  then  from  these  concurring  prophecies,  that 
the  final  war  of  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet  against  the 
Gospel,  though  probably  first  raging  with  great  violence 
in  Europe,  during  the  earthquake  by  zvhich  the  Latin  city 
is  divided  into  three  parts,  and  by  which  the  islands  and 
mountains  or  smaller  states  of  the  empire  are  szvallowed 
up  in  some  grand  scheme  of  iniquitous  partition  :  or,  in 
the  language  of  Joel,  during  the  time  that  wonders  are 
shewn  in  the  heavens  and  in  the  earth,  blood,  and f  re,  and 
pillars  of  smoke  :  the  final  war  will  manifestly  be  decided 
in  Palestine  heticeen  the  two  seas.* 

The  corresponding  and  joint  declaration  of  Daniel, 
Zechariah,  and  Joel,  relative  to  the  country  which  is  ulti- 
mately to  be  the  sea',  of  this  last  zcar,  is  confirmed  in  a 
very  remarkable  manner  by  St.  John.  In  his  brief  ac- 
count of  the  vintage,  under  which  Popery  and  Inh'delity 
are  for  ever  destroyed,  he  informs  us,  that  the  wine-press, 
meaning  the  wine-press  of  Armageddon,  should  be  trodden 
without  the  city,  and  that  blood  should  come  out  of  it, 
even  to  the  horses'  bridles,  by  the  space  of  \bOO  furlongs. 
Both  these  descriptive  marks  perfectly  correspond  with 
the  land  oj  Palestine ;  the  land,  in  which  by  the  unani- 
mous testimony  of  the  prophets  the  last  great  controversy 
of  the  Lord  will  be  carried  on.  In  one  sense,  that  coun- 
try is  within  the  great  city  ;  and,  in  another  sense,  zcithout 
it.  It  is  zvithin  it,  if  the  whole  Roman  empire  be  consid- 
ered, as  including  both  its  proper  seat  in  the  West,  and 
Its  hastcrn  conquests  from  the  third  or  Macedonian  beast. 

*  "  I  have  an  unfashionable  partiality,"  says  Bp.  Horsley,  "  for  the  opinions  of  an- 
tiquity. 1  think  there  is  ground  in  the  prophecies  for  the  notion  of  the  early  fathers, 
that  Fulcsfim  is  the  stage,  on  wliich  Antichrist,  in  the  height  of  his  impiety,  will  per- 
jsh."    Letter  on  the  18th  chap,  of  Isaiah. 


241 

But  it  is  witho7it  it,  \^  the  t^evived  or  Latin  empire  be  con- 
sidered, because  that  empire  was  confined  exclusively  to 
^he  West.  Hence  we  find  it  said,  in  perfect  harmony 
with  this  supposition,  that  our  Lord  was  crucified  in  the 
great  city  ;*  because  he  suffered  during  the  existence 
of  the  ancient  Roman  empire^  which  comprehended  the 
sovereignty  both  of  the  East  and  of  the  West.  And 
hence  we  moreover  find  it  said,  that  the  wine-press  of 
Armai^eddon  should  be  trodden  zi;ithout  the  city  ;  because 
at  the  time  when  this  event  is  to  happen,  the  East  should 
not  form  a  part  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  revived  or  Latin 
empire  :  and  history  accordingly  testifies,  that  it  never 
did  form  any  part  of  it.f  This  land,  zmthout  the  city, 
where  the  figurative  wine-press  is  to  be  trodden,  is  de- 
scribed by  St.  John  as  extending  l600  Jutdongs :  and 
all  the  other  prophets  declare,  that  the  land  in  question 
is  Palestine  :  hence  we  are  naturally  led  to  expect,  that 
Palestine  should  extend  1600  Jicr longs.  Now  it  is  highly 
worthy  of  observation,  that  the  length  of  that  region  be" 
twecn  the  two  seas  which  is  destined  to  witness  the  fall  of 
Antichrist  and  his  congregated  host,  if  a  line  be  drawn 
along  the  sea-shore  from  its  southern  to  its  northern  fron- 
tier, amounts  exactly  to  1600  Jezvish  Risin  or  Stadia.% 
Not  merely  the  land  however  is  pointed  out,  where 
this  great  battle  is  to  be  fought,  but  even  the  very  place 
in  that  land.  Zechariah,  as  we  have  seen,  fixes  in  gener- 
al terms  the  scene  of  action  in  Palestine  and  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Jerusalem :  Joel  likewise  fixes  the  scene  of 

*  Rev.  xi.  8, 

f  The  temporary  prevalence  of  the  Latins  in  the  East,  during  the  time  of  the  cru- 
sades, forms  a  soHtary  exception  to  this  general  rule. 

\  See  D'Anville's  Map  of  Palestine  with  scales  of  measures.  This  coincidence  be- 
tween the  length  of  Pjhstir.s  and  the  1600  stadia  was  noticed  by  Jerome;  and  it  pro- 
bably was  one  reason  why  the  fathers  rightly  believed,  that  Antichrist  should  perish 
in  that  country.  Mr.  Mede  mentions  the  circumstance  :  but,  from  an  idea  that  the 
city  means  the  literal  city  of  Rome  instead  of  the  Romjii  empire,  he  supposes,  contrary  to 
the  express  declarations  of  all  the  prophecies  which  treat  of  the  subject,  that  the  last 
great  war  will  be  decided  ivitbout  the  W^alls  of  Rome  and  in  the  territories  of  the  Pope  ; 
and  thence  observes,  that  the  measure  of  Peter's  pjirimony,  from  the  walls  of  Rome  to 
the  last  mouth  of  the  Po,  is  1 600  furlongs.  (Comment.  Apoc.  in  Vindemiam.)  Upon 
this  it  will  be  sufficient  to  observe,  that  the  -ivhole  length  of  tlie  pap.^l  dominions  is 
considerably  more  than  \G00  furlongs  :  and,  even  if  the  coincidence  had  been  exact, 
nothing  would  have  been  proved  therebv,  because  the  prophets  unanimously  direct 
«ur  attention  to  quite  another  country,  n.imely  Palestine,  which  is  found  to  be  pre- 
cisely 1600 firlorigr  in  length.     See  Pol.  Synop.  in  loc. 

VOL.     IT.  31 


242 

action  in  Palesfme,  declaring  that  the  northern  armij  shall 
be  destroyed  between  the  two  seas:  Daniel  no  less 
explicitly  affirms,  that  the  infidel  king,  after  having  plant- 
ed the  curtains  of  his  pavilions  betzoeen  the  seas  m  the 
glorious  holy  mountain,  shall  come  to  his  end,  none  be- 
ing able  to  help  him  :  and  St.  John  asserts,  that  the  wine- 
press shall  be  trodden  in  a  land  which  extends  1600  Jur^ 
longs — In  addition  to  this  general  statement  of  the  coun- 
try, where  these  events  are  to  happen,  Joel  further  in- 
forms us,  that  the  battle  of  the  nations  shall  not  ()nly  be 
fought  between  the  two  seas  but  in  the  valley  of  Jehosha- 
phat ;  and  St.  John  predicts  very  definitely,  that  tJiis  same 
battle  shall  not  only  be  fought  in  a  land  which  extends 
\iyOOjur  longs,  but  in  a  certain  place  of  that  land  called 
Armageddon — The  valley  of  Jehoshaphaf  therefore  and 
Armageddon  are  one  and  the  same  region — Now  the 
word  Jehoshaphat  signifies  the  judgment  of  the  Lord: 
and  the  valleif  of  the  battle  is  indifferently  styled  by  Joel 
the  valleif  of  Jehoshaphat  or  the  judgment  of  the  Lord,  and 
the  valleif  of  concision  or  destruction.  It  is  plain  there- 
fore, that  this  is  not  the  proper,  but  only  a  descriptive,* 
name  of  the  place  ;  that  is,  q{  some  place  or  other  between 
the  two  seas — Here  then  St.  John  steps  forward,  and  fur- 
nishes us  with  the  literal  proper  name  of  the  region, 
which  is  thus  to  be  made  the  scene  of  the  jiist  judgment 
of  the  Lord.  Armageddon  signifies  the  destruction  of  Me- 
giddo  :  and  Megiddo  is  a  town  s\\.\yAiebetzveen  the tzco seas, 
in  the  half-tribe  of  Manasseth,  at  a  small  distance  from  the 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean. •]•  In  the  valley  of  this  p'ace, 
Josiah  lost  his  life  in  his  fatal  encounter  with  Pharaoh  king  of 

*  That  jehoshaphat  is  only  a  descriptive  name  of  the  place,  is  evident  from  the  con- 
text : — ^"  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  ybr  there  'will  J  fjtho-jahj  sit  to  judge  the  natiora 
round  about, 

f  Armageddon  is  the  abbreviated  compound  of  p"|an"."rmn  Arma-Mageddon,  th: 
devoting  to  utter  destruction  at  Megiddo.  "  Hic  it;qu  ■  crasis  est,  nt  in  nomine  amSN  pro 
p?2,T31-iK  &c."  (See  Pol.  Synop. in  loc.)  I  p.efer  this  derivation  of  the  word  to 
that  proposed  by  Calmet.  He  conceives  it  to  be  compounded  of  Ar  and  Megiddon, 
and  thence  to  signify  the  mountain  of  Megiddo.  Such  a  supposition  however  by  no 
means  tallies  either  with  the  ordinary  language  of  Scripture  employed  in  speaking  of 
Megiddo,  or  with  the  parallel  prophecy  in  the  book  of  Joel.  The  'valley  of  Megiddo 
is  twice  spoken  of:  (2  Chron.  xxxv.  22.  Zechar.  xii.  II.)  the  mountain  of  Megiddo 
never  :  and,  agreeably  to  this  phraseology,  the  future  stage  of  the  great  battle  of 
Armageddon  is  termed  by  Joel  the  valley,  not  the  mountain,  of  Jehoshaphat.  Hence  I 
.thJtik  it  scarcely  probable,  that  Armageddon  should  signify  ths  mountain  of  Megiddo. 


243 

EjQiypt !  and  it  appears,  that  this  valleij  of  the  destruction 
of  Megiddo^  or,  as  it  is  termed  by  Joel,  this  valley  of  the 
Judgment  of  the  Lord,  is  hereafter  to   be   the  scene   of  a 
yet  more  dreadful  conflict. 

I  have  observed,  that  the  gathering  together  of  the 
kings  of  the  earth  to  the  battle  of  Armageddon  may  pos- 
sibly mean  the  gathering  together  of  some  great  confed- 
eracif  of  the  infidel  popish  poicers^  against  the  converted 
Jews  supported  bi}  the  arms  of  Protestantism^  to  the  place 
appointed  for  their  destruction.  This  conjecture  is 
strengthened  by  a  certain  peculiarity  of  expression,  which 
the  Holy  Spirit  taught  both  Joel  and  Daniel  to  adopt  in 
their  respective  predictions  concerning  the  great  troubles 
about  to  come  to  pass  at  the  end  of  the  \Q60 years.  Jo- 
el describes  the  proclamation,  by  which  the  nations  are 
to  be  gathered  together,  as  inviting  them  to  sanctify  war  : 
and  Daniel  represents  the  infidel tij rant  as  going  forth  in 
great  wrath  to  devote,  under  the  pretext  of  religion.,  many 
to  utter  destruction.*  From  these  expressions  I  am 
much  inclined  to  think,  that  the  gathering  together  of ///e 
beast,  the  false  prophet,  and  the  kings  of  the  Latin  earthy 
will  be  for  the  purpose  of  undertaking  what  a  Papist 
would  denominate  a  holif  zvar  :  that  is  to  say,  a  war  some- 
w'hat  similar  to  the  ancient  holii  crusade  against  the  VV'al- 
denses  of  Provence,  a  war  entered  into  under  the  cogni- 
zance of  the  croi^o.' for  the  pious  purpose  of  exterminating  all 
those  whom  ihcChurch  of  Rome  thinks  proper  to  denom- 
inate heretics.^      This  infamous  prostitution  of  the  sa- 

■'  Sucli  is  the  proper  meaning  of  the  word  Din  Harem,  here  used.  Though  Bp, 
Newton,  I  am  persuaded,  interprets  the  whole  of  this  prophecy  very  erroneously, 
vet  he  is  perfectly  right  in  what  lie  says  respecting  the  verb  Harem.  "  The  original 
word,  which  we  translate  utterly  to  male  aivay,  signifies  to  aniithematiz.e,  to  consecrate,  to 
de-jote  to  utter  perdition  ;  SO  that  it  strongly  implies,  that  this  war  should  be  made  upon 
a  religious  account."  (Dissert.  XVII.)  a'lnrr.  Anathematizavit,  anathemate  vel 
anathemati,  internecioni,  perditioui,  devovit :  consecravit,  dcvotum  etTecit.  (Bux- 
torf.  Lexic.)  annrr.  Occidit,  disperdidit,  devastavit,  morti  addixit,  anathematizavit, 
anathemati  subjecit.     Calas.  Concord, 

f  Mr.  Whitaker's  idea,  that  "Jerusalem  is  ultimately  to  b:  the  seat  of  the  Pope,  is  perhaps 
not  altogether  improbable ;  but  I  cannot  find,  that  there  is  any  express  warrant  for 
siich  a  supposition  in  Scripture.  Mr.  Whitaker  refers  to  Rev.  xi.  7,  8.  in  confirma- 
tioa  of  his  opinion  :  but  this  passage  affords  no  proof.  Jerusalem  is  never  styled  the 
great  city.  That  title  is  exclusively  applied  to  tbe  Roman  empire,  which  is  here  like- 
\yise  intended.  (Com.  p,  441.)  Air.  Whitaker,  since  tliis  was  written,  has  laboured 
in  a  pamphlet,  which  he  hns  published  against  me,  to  prove  that  toe  great  city  mean 
:"* ;ri:su!;:?i :  but  he  appears  to  me  10  have  complerely  failed  in  eitablishing  liis  posi^ 


S44 

ered  name  of  religion  will  however  be  amply  repayed  up- 
on their  own  head.  The  Arma^  or  destroijing  anathema, 
which  the  false  prophet  shall  fulminate  against  his  ene- 
mies, and  which  his  zealous  co^d'^utov  the atheisiico-papal 
tifrant  will  go  forth  in  great  fury  to  put  in  execution 
against  those  whom  he  hath  religiously  devoted  to  de- 
struction, shall  prove  an  A?'ma  on\y  to  themselves.  Ac- 
cordingly we  find,  what  is  somewhat  remarkable,  that 
the  same  word  Arma,  the  radical  verb  of  which  Daniel 
uses  to  express  the  manner  in  which  the  hrfidel  king 
should  go  forth  in  his  wrath,  is  united  by  St.  John  in 
composition  with  the  proper  name  Megiddo  :  as  if  he 
wished  to  intimate,  that  they,  who  had  pronounced  aii 
Anna  against  all  their  opponents,  should  themselves  feel 
the  baleful  effects  of  the  Lord's  Anna  at  Arma-Megid- 
don*  The  very  league  of  the  false  prophet  indeed  with 
the  beast  and  the  kings  of  the  earth  might  alone  lead  us 
to  conclude,  that  this  war  should  be  a  religious  war  : 
for,  if  it  were  a  war  undertaken  only  upon  common  prin- 
ciples, it  is  not  easy  to  assign  a  reason  why  the  false  proph- 
et should  be  evidently  so  much  interested  in  its  success. 

The  following,  as  far  as  1  am  able  to  collect  from  pro- 
phecy, seems  to  be  the  order,  in  which  the  great  events 
that  begin  to  take  place  at  the  close  of  the  1260  f/ears  will 
succeed  each  other.f 

At  the  pouring  out  of  the  seventh  vial,  the  great  Latin 
city  will  be  divided  into  three  parts  ;  and  the  expedition 
of  the  wilful  king  against  Palestine,  predicted  by  Daniel, ij: 
will  commence.  The  1260  ijears  having  now  expired, 
the  restoration  of  the  Jews  will  likewise  commence:  for 
it  is  declared,  that  their  restoration  shall  at  once  be  con- 
temporary with  the  time  of  unexampled  trouble  which 
marks  the  time  of  the  end^  and  shall  begin  to  take  place 

tlon,  in  which  indeed  he  runs  counter  to  the  opinion  of  Mede,  Newton,  and  all  our 
best  commentators. 

*  Mr  Fleming  has  much  the  same  remark.  After  observing  that  Arma  signifies, 
both  an  anathema  and  a  slaughter,  he  adds,  "  that  both  the  anatbanas  darted  against 
the  saints  by  the  Romanists,  and  their  arTnics  made  use  of  against  them,  may  be  here 
alluded  to."     Apoc.  Key,  p.  63. 

f  I  purposely  give  only  a  very  brief  statement  of  these   matters,   and  omit  all 
references  to  particular  prophecies,  as  I  propose  to  discuss  them  at  large  in  a  <.eparate 
xyprk  on  the  Restoration  of  Israel  and  the  overthroiv  of  the  Aniichrislian  confederacy, 
i  Dan.  xi.  40 — 45 . 


24d 

so  soon  as  the  iliree  times  and  a  half  terminate.  One 
great  body  of  the  Jews  will  be  converted  and  restored  b}' 
the  instrumentality  of  some  mi^htif  maritime  nation  of 
fuithjid  ii'or shippers^  and  therefore  by  some  maritime  na- 
tion hostile  to  the  views  and  principles  of  Antichrist* 

*  Bp.  Horsley's  translation  of  the  18th  chapter  of  Isaiah,  and  some  of  his  remarks 
upon  the  prophecy  contained  in  it,  are  so  remarkably  apposite  to  the  plan  of  the 
present  work,  that  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  transcribing  them. 

ISAIAH   XVIII. 

1 .  Ho  !  land  spreading  wide  the  shadow  of  (thy)  wings  which  art  beyond  the 
rivers  of  Cush  ! 

2.  Accustomed  to  send  messengers  by  sea,  even  in  bulrush  vessels  upon  the  surface 
of  the  waters !  Go,  swift  messengers  unto  a  nation  dragged  away  and  plucked, 
unto  a  people  wonderful  from  their  beginning  hitherco,  a  nation  expecting,  ex- 
pecting, and  trampled  under  foot,  whose  land  rivers  have  spoiled  : 

3.  All  the  inhabitants  of  the  world,  and  dwellers  upon  earth,  shall  see  the  lifting 
up,  as  it  were,  of  a  banner  upon  the  mountains  ;  and  shall  hear  the  sounding  as  it 
were,  of  a  trumpet. 

4.  For  thus  saith  Jehovah  unto  me :  I  will  sit  still,  (but  I  will  keep  my  eye  upon 
my  prepared  habitation,)  as  the  parching  heat  just  before  lightning,  as  the  dewy 
cloud  in  the  heat  of  harvest. 

5.  For,  afore  the  harvest,  when  the  bud  is  coming  to  perfectioxi,  and  the  blossom 
is  become  a  juicy  berry,  he  will  cut  ofFthe  useless  shoots  with  pruning  hooks  ;  and 
the  bill  shall  take  away  the  luxuriant  branches. 

6.  They  shall  be  left  together  to  the  bird  of  prey  of  the  mountains,  and  to  the 
beasts  of  the  earth.  And  upon  it  shall  the  bird  of  prey  summer,  and  ail  the  beasts 
of  the  earth  upon  it  shall  winter. 

7.  At  that  season  a  present  shall  be  led  to  Jehovah  of  hosts,  a  people  dragged 
away  and  plucked  ;  even  of  a  people  wonderful  from  their  beginning  hitherto;  a 
nation  expecting,  expecting,  and  trampled  under  foot,  whose  land  rivers  have 
spoiled,  unto  the  place  of  the  name  of  Jehovah  of  hosts,  Mount  Zion. 

COMMENTARY. 

The  shado-w  of  thy  ivings?[  The  shadow  of  wings  is  a  very  usual  image  in  pro- 
phetic language  for  protection  afforded  by  the  stronger  to  the  weak.  God's  protec- 
tion of  his  servants  is  described  by  their  being  safe  under  the  shadow  of  his  wings. 
And,  in  this  passage,  the  broad  shadowing  wings  may  be  intended  to  characterize 
some  great  people,  who  should  be  famous  for  the  protection  they  should  give  to 
those,  whom  they  received  into  their  alliance  ;  and  I  cannot  but  think  this  tlie 
most  simple  and  natural  exposition  of  the  expression. 

To  send  messengers]  The  original  word  D*"!"!.*  may  be  taken  for  persons  employed 
between  nation  and  nation,  for  the  purposes  either  of  negociation  or  commeiTC. 

Bulrush  vessels']  N.ivigable  vessels  are  certainly  meant — If  the  country  spoken  to 
be  distant  from  Egypt,  vessels  of  bulrush  are  only  used  as  an  apt  image,  on  account 
of  their  levity;  for  quick  sailing  vessels  of  any  material.  The  countrv  therefore, 
to  which  the  prophet  calls,  is  characterized  as  one,  which  in  the  days  of  the  com- 
pletion of  this  prophecy  should  be  a  great  maritime  and  commercial  power, 
forming  remote  alliances,  making  distant  vovages  to  all  parts  of  the  world  witl; 
expedition  and  security,  and  in  the  habit  of  aflbrding  protection  to  their  friends 
and  allies.  Where  this  country  is  to  be  found,  is  not  otherwise  said,  than  that  it 
will  be  remote  from  Judea,  and  with  respect  to  that  country  beyond  the  Cusheau 
streams. 

A  nation  dragged  aivay]  The  dispersed  Jews  :  a  natioia  dragged  away  from  its 
proper  seat,  and  plucked  of  its  wealth  and  power  ;  a  people  wonderful  from  the  be- 
ginning to  this  very  time  for  the  special  providence,  which  ever  has  attended  them. 
and  directed  their  fortunes  ;  a  nation  still  lingering  in  expectation  of  the  Messiah, 
TR'ho  so  long  since  camo,  and  was  rejected  by  thorn,  and  now  is  r nming  again  in  glorj-  ^ 


946 

Those  consequently,  vvho  are  thus  converted  and  brought 
back  by  sea,  must  clearly  be  such  Jezvs^  as  were  either 
scattered  through  the  dominions  and  colonies  of  the  mari- 
or  through  those  of  other  smaller  nmrilimc 

a  nation  universally  trampled  under  foot ;  whose  land  rivers,  armies  of  foreign  inva- 
ders, the  Assyrians,  Babylonians,  Syro-Macedonians,  Romans,  Saracens,  and  Turks, 
have  over-run  and  depopulated. 

^i  that  season  c  present  shall  be  lsd\     Immediately  after  the  purgation  of  the  Church, 
at  the  very  time,  when  the  bird  of  prey  with  all  the  beasts  of  the  earth.  Antichrist! 
with  his  rebel  rout,  shall  have  fixed  his  seat  between  the  seas,  in  the  holy  mountain,  a 
present  shall  be  brought ;  the  nation,  described  in  ver.  2.  as  those  to  whom  the  swift 
messengers  are  sent,  after  their  long  infidelity,  shall  be  brought  as  a  present  unto  Je- 
hovah.    (Compare  Ixvi.  20.)     They  shall  be  converted  to  the  acknowledgment  of 
the  truth,  and  they  shall  be  brought  to  the  place  of  the  name  of  Jehovah,  to  mount 
Zion  :  they  shall  be  settled  in  peace  and  prosperity,  in  the  land  of  their  original  in- 
Iieritance  — This  then  is  the  sum  of  this  prophecy,  and  the  substance  of  the  messao^e 
fent  to  the  people  dr.iggcd  away  and  plucked.     That,  in  the  latter  ages,  after  a  long 
.suspension  of  the  visible  interpositions  of  Providence,  God,  who  all  the  while  regards 
that  dwelling  place  which  he  will  never  abandon,  and  is  at  all  times  directing  the 
events  of  the  world  to  the  accomplishment  of  his  own  purposes  of  wisdom  and  mer- 
cy ;  inmiediately  before  the  iinal  gathering  of  his  elect  from  the  iuur  winds  of  heaven, 
will  purify  his  Ch  *  ch  by  such  signal  judgments,  ar.  shall  rouse  the  attention  of  the 
whole  world,  and,  in  the  end,  strike  all  nations  with  religious  awe.     At  this  period, 
the  apostate  faction  w^ill  occupy   the  Holy  I_iand.     This  faction  will  certainly  be  an 
instrument  of  those  judgments,  by  which  the  Church  will  be  purified.     That  puri- 
iication  therefore  is  not  at  all  inconsistett  with  the  seeming  prosperity  of  the  affairs 
of  the  atheistical  confederacy.     But,  after  such  duration  as  God  shall  see  fit  to  allow 
to  the  plenitude  of  its  power,  the  Jews,  converted  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  will  be  un- 
expectedly restored  to  their  ancient  possessions.     The  swift  messengers  will  certainly 
have  a  considerable  share,  as  instruments  in  the  hand  of  God,  in  the  restoration  of 
the  chosen  people  :  otherwise,  to  what  purpose  are  they  called  upon  (ver.  1.)  to  re- 
ceive their  commission  from  the  prophet }  It  will  perhaps  be  some  part  of  their  bu- 
siness to  afford  the  Jews  the  assistance  and  protection  of  their  fleets.     This  seems  to 
fee  insinuated  in  the  imagery  of  the  first  verse.     But  the  principal  part,  they  will 
iiave  to  act,  will  be  that  of  the  carriers  of  God's  message  to  his  people.     This  char- 
acter seems  to  describe  some  christian  country,  where  the  prophecies,  relating  to  the 
latter  ages,  will  meet  with  particular   attention  ;  where  the  literal  sense  of  those, 
which  promise  the  restoration  of  the  Jewish  people,  will  be  strenuously  upheld  ;  and 
where  these  will  be  so  successfully  expounded,  as  to  be  the  principal  means,  by  God's 
blessing,  of  removing  the  veil  from  the  hearts  of  the  Israelites.     Those,  who  shall 
thus  be  the  instruments  of  this  blessed  v/ork,  may  well  be  described,  in  the  figured 
language  of  prophecy,  as  the  carriers  of  God's  message  to  his  people.     The  situation 
of  the  country,  destined  to  so  high  an  office,  is  not  otherwise  described  in  the  proph- 
ecy, than  by  this  circumstance ;  that  it  is  to  be  beyond  the  rivers  of  Cush  :  that  is, 
far  to  the  West  of  Judea,  if  these  rivers  of  Cush  are  to  be  understood,  as  they  have 
been  generally  understood,  of  the  Nile  and  other  Ethiopian  rivers  ;  far  to  the  liast, 
if  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates.    The  one,  or  the  other,  tliey  must  denote :  but  which, 
is  uncertain.     It  will  be  natural  to  ask  of  what  importance   is  this  circumstance  in 
the  character  of  the  countrv ;  which,  if  it  be  any  thing  is  a  geographical  character, 
and  yet  leaves  the  particular  situation  so  much  undetermined,  that  we  know  not  in 
what  quarter  of  the  world  to  look  for  the  country  intended,  whether    in  the  East 
Indies,  or  in  the  western  parts  of  Africa  or  Europe,  or  in  America  .'  I  answer,  that 
the  full  importance  of  this  circumstance  will  not  appear,  till  the  completion  of  the 
prophecy  shall  discover  it.     But  it  had,  as  I  conceive,  a  temporary  importance  at  the 
time  of  the  delivery  of  the  prophecy  ;  namely,  that  it  excluded  Egypt.     The  Jews  of 
Isaiah's  time,  by  a  perverse  policy,  were  on  all  occasions  ccjurting  the  alliance  of  the 
Egyptians,  in  oppusition  to  God's  express  injunctions  by  liii  propheto  to  the  co.ntrary, 


24-7 

nations  in  alliance  with  and  professing  the  same  faith  as 
the  great  naval  poller  \i^e\L  Another  considerable  body 
o^  the  Jews  there  is  reason  to  believe  will  be  restored  by 
land  and  in  an  unconverted  state  by  the  Antichrislian 
faction;  Sind  that  for  mere  political  pm-poses.  Those 
consequently,  who  are  thus  brought  back,  must  be  such 
Jezc;s  as  are  scattered  through  the  territories  of  the  injldel 
king  and  his  vassal  allies. 

Daniel  has  given  us  a  wonderfully  minute  account  of 
the  progress  oi the  Antichnstiun  confederacij  to  Palestine  ; 
which,  as  might  naturally  be  expected  from  the  circum- 
stance o^ the  maritime pozcer  commanding  at  sea,  is  plainly 
by  land.  This  expedition  of  the  infixlel  king^  which  we 
must  conclude  both  from  local  and  chronological  evi- 
dence to  be  the  same  as  the  expedition  of  the  beast  under 
his  last  head^  the  false  prophet^  and  the  kings  of  the  Latin 
earth,  will  at  its  first  setting  out  be  opposed  by  tn'o  kings 
of  the  south  and  the  north.  Now,  if  the  infidel  king  be 
France,  he  must,  in  his  attempt  to  invade  tlie  holif  land 
from  his  empire  in  the  West,  necessarily  pass  through 
Turkeif.  Here  therefore  most  probably  will  be  the  first 
collision.  The  Ottoman  power,  as  we  learn  from  St.  John, 
will  have  previously  fallen  under  the  sixth  apoculupfic 
vial:  but  in  whose  hands  Tii r ke i/ 'dnd  Asia  minor  will 
then  be,  no  one  can  at  present  with  certainty  determine. 
In  spite  however  of  all  the  opposition  made  by  the  txo 
kings.  Antichrist  will  enter  into  the  countries,  overflow- 
ing them  like  a  resistless  torrent ;  will  pass  over  the  nar- 
row channel  of  the  Constantinopolitan  sea  ;  and  will 
force  his  way  into  Palestine.  Such  being  his  progress, 
he  must  unavoidably  enter  thehohj  land  from  the  north  : 
hence  his  invasion  is  so  frequently  spoken  of  as  proceed- 
ing from  that  quarter. 

Successful  in  his  first  attempt,  and  having  placed  his 
allies  the  unconverted  Jezcs  in  Jerusalem  and  its  vicinitv, 
he  will  next  direct  his  steps  towards  Egi/pt.  Edom,  and 
Moah,  and  the  chief  of  the  children  oiAmmon,  will  nev- 

fsaiah  therefore,  as  if  he  >vould  discourage  the  hope  of  aid  from  Eg-ypt  at  anr  time, 
tells  them,  that  the  foreiq;n  alliance,  which  God  prepares  for  them  in  the  latter  times) 
is  not  that  of  Egypt,  which  he  teaches  them  at  ail  times  to  renounce  and  to  dci-pise, 
but  that  of  a  counrry  far  remote  :  as  everj-  country  must,  that  lies  either  West  cf  !he 
Nile,  or  East  of  tJis  Tigris.     Bp.  of  St.  Asaph's  l.eUer  ou  Isaiaii  xviix. 


!^4r8 


ertheless,  escape  out  of  his  hand.  For  this  they  have  to 
thank,  not  h  s  moderation  and  clemency,  but  merely  their 
local  situation.  A  map  will  best  explain  the  reason  of 
their  security.  The  districts,  which  those  nations  for- 
merly occupied,  lie  so  far  to  the  east,  as  to  be  entirely 
out  of  the  way  of  any  army  which  is  passing  from  Jud^a 
into  Egt/pf.  But,  over  other  countries  more  closely  ad- 
joining to  Egi/pt,  he  will  stretch  forth  his  hand  :  and, 
while  Egtjpt  is  unable  to  escape  his  marauding  rapacity, 
those,  whom  Daniel  calls  the  Luhim  and  the  Cushim^ 
"will  be  compelled  to  attend  his  steps,  and  probably  either 
augment  his  armies  or  perform  the  more  menial  offices 
of  his  camp. 

In  the  midst  of  his  African  conquests,  he  will  be  troubled 
by  tidings  out  of  the  east  and  the  north.  What  these  ti- 
dings are,  Daniel  does  not  positively  determine :  but  the 
subsequent  context  plainly  shews,  that  they  must  relate 
to  the  approach  of  some  new  enemy,  and  to  some  disa- 
greeable intelligence  respecting  Jerusalem.  From  these 
data^  and  by  the  assistance  of  other  parallel  prophecies, 
we  may  form  no  improbable  corrjecture  at  least  respect- 
ing those  tidings  out  of  the  east  and  out  of  the  north, 
which  are  described  as  so  grievously  xxo\ih\m^  Aiitichrist, 
We  left  the  great  maritime  poicer  bringing  by  sea  its  al- 
lies, the  converted  Jezes,  as  a  present  to  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
to  mount  Zion.  Now,  in  whatever  part  of  the  world  this 
power  may  be  situated,  whether  far  beyond  the  eastern 
or  the  western  Cushean  streams,  it  is  plain  that  its  navy 
can  only  approach  Palestine  by  the  way  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean sea.  Such  then  will  indisputably  be  its  course. 
The  maritime  expedition,  which  we  may  conceive  to  set 
sail  at  some  indefinite  period  after  the  close  oi  the  1260 
years,  in  order  that  we  may  allow  a  sufficient  space  of 
time  for  the  colleclinar  toc'ether  and  convertins:  such  of 
the  Jfic^  as  are  destined  to  be  restored  by  the  agency  of 
the  great  naval  poioer,  at  length  reaches  Palestmc  :  but 
thebelieving  Jeii:s,2>.w^  theirprotectors,findthpmselvesop-  \ 
posed  by  the  unbelieving  Jezvs^  and  the  troops  which  Anti- 
chrisfAvA^  left  behind  him  togarrison  Jerusalem  and  other 
suong-holds.  Apparently  after  no  trifling  bloodshed, and 
(if  1  judge  rightly  from  some  prophecies)  when  theconvert- 


249 

ed  Jei0S  had  suffered  very  considerably,  the  eyes  of  theiiu 
unconverted  brethren  will  unexpectedly  be  opened ; 
they  will  spiritually  look  upon  him  whom  they  have 
pierced;  and,  throwing  off  the  base  yoke  oi Antichrist, 
they  will  cordially  join  such  of  their  nation  as  had  embra- 
ced Christianity,  and  had  allied  themselves  to  the  faithful 
maritime  power.  Thus  will  the  Lord  bring  to  salvation 
the  tents  of  Judah  first ;  or  that  body  of  the  Jews,  who 
are  attached  to  the  army  o^  the  great  maritime  nation,  and 
who  have  not  yet  acquired  a  permanent  settlement  in  cit- 
ties  :  and  afterwards  the  hou.se  of  David,  and  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Jerusalem  ;  or  those  c^ezt'^,  who  have  been  rest')r- 
ed  in  an  unconverted  state,  and  have  been  placed  in  their 
ancient  metropolis  by  Antichrist. 

At  the  period  when  these  events  happen,  and  that  they 
xmll  happen  may  be  collected  with  sufficient  clearness, 
we  may  suppose  Antichrist  to  be  in  Egypt  and  Lybia  : 
for  to  what  other  time,  in  the  course  of  his  wholt  prog- 
ress, can  we  with  equal  propriety  ascribe  them  ?  Thus 
situated,  he  would  plainly  receive  the  intelligence  from 
the  north  and  from  the  east.  From  the  north  and  the 
northeast  he  would  learn,  by  means  of  some  light  ves- 
sels, first  that  the  navy  of  the  maritime  power  was  ap- 
proaching, and  afterwards  that  it  had  safel}^  reached  the 
coast  of  Palestine :  from  the  east  and  the  northeast 
he  would  learn,  by  means  of  his  own  fugitive  troops 
which  had  been  stationed  in  Judea,  that  the  maritime 
pozver  had  completely  succeeded  in  its  first  attempt,  that 
it  had  brought  back  a  large  body  o(  converted  Jews,  and 
that  those  who  had  been  restored  by  Antichrist  in  an  un- 
converted state  had  suddenly  embraced  the  faith  of  pro- 
testant  Christianity,  and  had  revolted  from  him  to  their 
already  believing  brethren.  Unless  we  admit,  that  ei- 
ther this  or  something  like  it  will  be  the  case,  we  shall 
find  it  no  easy  matter  to  account  for  the  fury  with  uhicli 
Antichrist  is  represented  as  returning  into  Judht  which 
he  had  already  subdued,  and  as  besieging  Jerusalem 
which  he  had  already  given  to  his  allies  the  unconverted 
Jews.  For,  that  certain  unbelieving  Jews  zvill  be  con- 
verted in  Jerusalem,  is  plainly  asserted  by  Zechariah  : 
and,  that  the  city  will  afterwards  be  besieged  and  taken, 

VOL.  II.  "  39 


2o0 

is  asserted  both  by  Zechariah  and  Daniel.  But  all  those 
Jews^  who  are  restored  by  the  maritime  powet\  will  re- 
turn in  a  converted  state,  as  is  manifest  from  the  language 
used  by  Isaiah  :*  by  whom  then  can  the  unconverted  Jen- s 
have  been  restored,  except  by  ^;z//c/imY,  who  will  make 
himself  master  of  the  whole  land  Oi  Palestine ;  and  why 
should  he  afterwards  besiege  them  in  Jerusalem,  except 
on  account  of  their  conversion  mentioned  by  Zechariah, 
and  their  revolt  from  his  cause  ?  for,  if  they  had  not  re- 
volted from  him  after  their  conversion,  no  reason  can  be 
assigned  why  he  should  so  bitterly  attack  them. 

Troubled  with  such  unpleasant  tidings  from  the  east  and 
from  the  north,  Antichrist  hastily  quits  Egypt  and  Lijb- 
ia^  and  retraces  his  steps  to  Jutlta.  Going  forth  in  the 
height  of  his  fury,  he  threatens  to  destroy  all  such  as 
should  oppose  him  :  and,  calling  in  the  aid  of  Popish  big- 
otry he  sanctifies  his  expedition  by  representing  it  as  a 
holy  crusade  against  heretics  ;  and,  with  banners  blessed 
by  the  false  prophet^  who  (as  we  have  reason  to  believe 
from  the  Apocalypsef)  will  be  his  attendant,  he  devotes 
many  to  utter  extermination  under  the  blasphemous  pre- 
text of  religion.  His  wonted  success  at  first  attends  him. 
He  besieges  Jerusalem  now  occupied  by  his  enemies, 
and  takes  it.  Here  he  exercises  his  usual  barbarity  ;  a 
barbarity,  increased  ten-fold  by  the  defection  of  his  late 
allies.  The  houses  are  rifled,  and  the  women  are  ravish- 
ed, by  his  licentious  soldiery.  Half  of  the  inhabitants 
are  made  captive  :  but  the  other  half  are  permitted  still 
to  remain  in  the  city,  under  the  control  most  probablv 
of  a  strong  garrison.  Thus  does  he  plant  the  curtains  of 
his  tents  between  the  seas  in  the  glorious  holy  mountain  : 
and  thus  is  Jerusalem,  now  for  the  last  time,  trodden 
down  of  the  Gentiles. 

During  these  disasters,  the  troops  of  Me  maritime  poll- 
er appear  to  have  retreated  towards  the  sea-shore,  in  or- 
der that  they  may  be  able  to  regain  their  ships,  if  all  fur- 
ther resistance  should  prove  fruitless.  Here  they  would 
doubtless  be  joined  by  the  great  body  of  their  allies,  the 
first  con-certed  Jeics,  and  by  such  of  those  that  were  af- 

'*  See  the  preceding  extract  from  Bp.  Horsley.  f  Rev.  xix.  IP,  20. 

1 


251 

terwards  converted,  as  were  able  to  effect  their  escape 
from  the  rage  of  Antichrist.      To  this  devoted  host  the 
tyrant  now  directs  his  attention.     Anticipating  an  easy- 
victory  over  his  last  enemies,  either  by  suddenly  cutting 
them  off  from  their  ships  or  by  compelling  them  to  re- 
embark,  and  with  proud  exultation  looking  forward  to  the 
uncontrolled  empire  of  the  civilized  world,  he  leaves  Je- 
rusalem, and  advances  with  his  whole  army  to  Megiddo. 
Between   this  town   and  the  sea   we  may  suppose  the 
troops  of  the  maritime  poiver  and  the  Jcxl-s  to  have  taken 
their  position,  hopeless   probably  of  victory  from  their 
vast  disparity  in  numbers  to  the  huge  hosts  of  their  ene- 
my.    But  the  battle  is  not  always  to  the  strong,  nor  the 
race  to  the  swift.     At  this  anxious  moment,  the  glory  of 
the  Lord  is  suddenly  manifested  in  the  midst  of  Jerusa- 
lem, and  Jehovah  himself  becometh  a  wall  of  fire  around 
her.     The  Almia^hty  Word  of  God  goeth  forth,  like  a 
man  of  war,  in  the  greatness  of  his  strength  ;  and  all  his 
saints,  the  innumerable  armies  of  heaven,  are  with  him. 
His  awful  commission  is  from  the  Most  High.     For,  af- 
ter the   manifestation  of  the  glory,  the   Lord  of  hosts 
sendeth  him  unto  the  nations  that  have  spoiled  his  an- 
cient people  ;   that  he  may  shake  his  hand  over  them, 
that  they  may  become  a  spoil  unto   those  whom  they 
had  made  their  servants,  that  they  may  know  that  the 
Lord  of  hosts  hath  sent  him,  that  they  may  learn  by  bit- 
ter experience  that  he   who   toucheth   Judah  toucheth 
the  apple  of  his  eye.      The  tremendous  vision  halts  for 
a  moment  on  the  mount  of  Olives  ;  which,  like  Sinai  of 
old,  acknowledges  a  present   God.  and  with   a  mighty 
earthquake  cleaves  asunder  in  the  midst.     It  then  ad- 
vances to  the  valley  of  Megiddo,  and   hovers  over  the 
heads  of  the   palsied  troops  of  Antichrist.     The  divine 
word  displays  himself  to  the  assembled  nations.     The 
faithful  look  up  with  awful  wonder,  knowing  that  their 
redemption  draweth   nigh.      Every  eye  seeth  him  ;  and 
they  also,  his  kindred  after  the  flesh,  which  pierced  him, 
now  behold  him  in  his  glory.     He  cometh  with  clouds  ; 
and  all  the  kindreds  of  the  Latin  earth  wail  because  of 
him.     He  descendeth  in  his  wrath  :  he  treadeth  the 


255 

winc-press  in  the  fury  of  his  indignation  :  his  garments 
are  sprinkled  with  the  blood  of  his  enemies.* 

It  appears  from  comparing  various  prophecies  togeth- 
er, that  the  overthrow  of  the  Antichnstian  confederacy 
will  be  effected  partly  by  supernatural  and  partly  by  na- 
tural agency.  Christ  will  indeed  tread  the  wine-press 
alone,  for  to  his  sole  might  will  the  victory  be  owing  : 
yet  will  he  likewise  use  the  instrumentality  of  others. 
While  he  miraculously  smites  his  enemies  with  a  dread- 
ful plague,  so  that  their  flesh  shall  consume  away  while 
they  stand  upon  their  feet,  and  their  eyes  shall  consume 
away  in  their  holes,  and  their  tongue  shall  consume 
away  in  their  mouth  ;  he  will  send  likewise  among  theni 
a  great  tumult  from  the  Lord,  so  that  they  shall  lay  hold 
every  one  on  the  hand  of  his  neighbour,  and  his  hand 
shall  rise  up  against  the  hand  of  his  neighbour.  Judah 
also,  summoned  to  the  dreadful  task  of  vengeance  by  his 
God,  shall  take  an  active  part  in  the  destruction  of  his 
enemies  :  for,  in  that  day,  the  Lord  will  make  the  gov- 
ernors of  Judah  like  a  hearth  of  fire  among  the  wood, 
and  like  a  torch  of  fire  in  a  sheaf;  and  they  shall  devour 
all  the  people  round  about,  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the 
left.  Thus  will  Antichrist  come  to  his  end,  and  none 
shall  help  him.  Thus  will  the  beast  nozj  under  his  last 
head  be  taken,  and  with  him  the  false  prophet  that 
wrought  miracles  before  him,  with  which  he  deceived 
them  that  had  received  the  mark  of  the  beast,  and  them 
that  worshipped  his  image.  These  both  will  be  cast 
alive  into  a  lake  of  fire  burning  with  brimstone  :  and  the 
remnant  will  be  slain  with  the  sword  of  that  Almighty 
Conqueror  who  silteth  upon  the  white  horse,  the  sword 
that  proceedeth  out  of  his  mouth  ;  and  all  the  fowls  will 
be  filled  with  their  flesh. 

Since  thcJciCs  are  to  be  restored  in  the  midst  of  war  and 
bloodshed,   or  as   Daniel  expresses  it,  during  a  time  of 

■^  After  a  lono;  and  attentive  examination  of  the  subject,  I  rest  in  Mr.  Mede's  opin- 
ion that  there  will  be  some  preternatural  manifestation  of  the  Messiah,  though  lean- 
not  think  that  he  assigns  to  it  its  proper  place  in  the  succession  of  events.  He  sup- 
poses, that  it  will  be  t/.'e  cause  of  the  conversion  of  t/>e  yeti-s  :  whereas,  according  as 
matters  appear  to  me,  they  will  he  previously  converted  ;  and  Christ  will  be  revealed, 
not  to  turn  (tem  to  the  faith,  but  to  execute  judgment  upon  his  awmics.  See  Isaiah 
Ixiii.  1—6.  Dan.  vii.  9,  10,  11.  Joel  iii.  16.  Zechar.  ii.  S— 1 1.  xiv.  3,  4,  12,  13.  '^ 
Thess.  ij.  8.     Rev.  xix.  1 1—21 


963 

trouble  such  as  never  was  since  there  was  a  nation,  we 
may  reasonably  suppose  that  oreat  numbers  of  them  will 
perish.  Accordingly  we  find,  that  their  return  from  the 
countries  of  their  dispersion  is  expressly  compared  by 
Ezekiel  to  their  ancient  exodus  from  Egypt.  As  God 
pleaded  with  their  fathers  in  the  wilderness  of  the  land 
of  Egypt ;  so  will  he  likewise  plead  with  them,  causing 
them  to  pass  under  the  rod,  and  purging  out  from  among 
them  the  rebels.  It  is  probable  indeed,  that  only  a  small 
part  of  the  first  generation  of  those  that  are  restored  will 
quietly  sit  down  under  their  own  vines  and  under  their 
own  fig-trees.  One  whole  generation  of  ihe  Israelites^ 
that  were  brought  out  of  Eg\pt,  perished  in  the  course 
of  fortif  years  in  the  wilderness  :  and  there  is  reason  to 
think,  that  the  conversion  and  restoration  o(  Judah,  and 
the  expedition  and  destruction  oi  Antichrist^  will  occupy 
a  period  of  not  less  than  30  years.  The  swift  messen- 
gers of  the  great  maritime  power  will  begin  the  work  of 
converting  the  Jews,  that  is  to  say  such  Jews  as  are  scat- 
tered through  the  countries  subject  to  their  influence. 
Antichrist  meanwhile  will  collect  the  unconverted  Jews 
from  those  parts  of  the  isles,  or  the  regions  of  Europe,* 
which  are  under  his  immediate  control,  for  the  purpose 
of  bringing  them  back  in  an  unbelieving  state  to  their 
own  country:  but  whether  he,  or  whether  the  maritime 
power^  will  absolutely  begin  the  work  o^  restoring  xhi:^ 
ancient  people  of  God,  cannot,  1  think,  be  certainly  gath- 
ered from  Scripture.  I"     His  plan  will  be  a  plan   of  pure 

*  By  the  hiss  of  the  Gentiles  the  Jews  Understood  all  these  countries  nvh'uh  they  could noi 
reach  from  Palestine  except  by  sea.  Hence  the  name  was  given  to  Europe,  in  contradis- 
tinction to  Asia,  which  to  them  was  strictly  continental.  See  Mede's  Works,  Book  I . 
Disc.  49.  p.  272. 

f  That  the  maritime  poiver,  mystically  termed  by  Isaiah  the  ships  of  Tarshisb,  will  be 
thefrst,  or  (as  the  original  expression  is  rendered  by  the  lxx  and  in  the  Latin  trans- 
lation of  the  Arabic  version)  among  the  frst,  to  attempt  the  conversion  of  the  Jews  ; 
and  that  they  will  aftei-jcards  bring  back  to  Palestine  such  as  shall  be  converted  by 
their  instrumentality,  seems  to  be  revealed  with  sufficient  plainness  :  but  it  is  no 
where,  I  believe,  positively  declared,  that  thev  shall  begin  the  work  of  restoring  the 
Jews.  Since  part  of  them  are  to  be  brought  back  by  Antichrist  in  an  uncowuerted  state, 
and/'.-?:-?  by  the  maritime  po-ver  in  ■i.cowjertcd  st.ite,  it  certainly  is  possible  that  Antichrist 
may  begin  to  restore  the  one  di-vision  previous  to  ;he  resicration  or  even  the  conversion  of 
the  other  di-visicn.  Most  probably  however  tlie  tv.-o  events  v.'ill  be  nearly,  if  not  al- 
together, contemporary.  The  prophecy,  contained  in  Isaiali  !k.  8,  9,  relates  solely  to 
the  restoration  of  the  coni>ertcd  fc-ws,  because  thcv  arc  dccLired  to  be  brouglit  unto  tjie 
pame  of  the  Lord  :  and  we  are  taught,  that  some  power,  luyssicaUy  termed  the  slipj 
of  Tarshish,  shall  be  among  the  tirot  to  undertake  thi?  great  enlerprize. 


254- 

Machiavelian  policy  :  and,  considering  the  frailty  of  hu- 
man nature,  it  is  much  to  be  feared  that  the  plan  o{  the 
markime powci\  strenuously  as  that  power  will  exert  itself 
in  coiwerting  no  less  than  in  collecting  the  Jews,  will  be 
somewhat  alloyed  by  worldly  motives,  and  will  not  be 
-adopted  simply  from  a  desire  to  promote  the  glory  of 
God.  Most  probably  politics  will  have  taken  such  a 
turn  at  that  eventful  period,  as  to  make  it  seem  to  be  the 
interest  of  both  those  great  powers  to  attempt  the  restor- 
ation of ///e  J^(?a\s'.  Thus  doubly  brought  back  by  two 
mighty  contending  nations,  and  thus  plunged  into  the 
midst  of  perils  and  of  war  during  the  space  o(  30  f/ears 
(for  so  long  a  time  will,  1  think,  intervene  between  the 
first  effusion  of  i he  seventh  vial  at  the  close  of  the  1260 
yecf/'s  when  they  begin  to  be  restored,  and  the  destruc- 
tion of  Antichrist  at  Megiddu),  the  Jen^s  must  inevitably 
suffer  many  calamities  ;  and  we  are  taught  accordingly 
by  Ezekiel,  that  such  will  assuredly  be  the  case. 

When  the  army  of  Antichrist  is  miraculously  over- 
thrown, the  Lord,  who  forgetteth  not  mercy  even  in  the 
midst  of  judgment,  will  not  make  an  entire  end  ;  but 
will  spare  some  of  the  least  guilty  of  his  enemies  reserv- 
ing them  for  the  noblest  purposes.  Zechariah  teaches 
us,  that  even  so  much  as  a  third  part  shall  be  spared. 
These  may  be  supposed  to  be  less  hardened  in  wicked- 
ness than  their  associates  ;  and  to  have  taken  a  part  in 
the  expedition,  either  through  the  inveterate  prejudices 
of  a  Popish  education  (the  expedition  having  been  bless- 
ed and  sanctified  by  the  false  prophet)^  or  through  the 
tyrannical  compulsion  which  w'e  have  already  beheld  An- 
tichristiun  France  begin  to  exercise  over  her  degraded 
allies.  Nor  will  they  only  be  spared  :  plucked  as  brands 
out  of  the  burning,  they  will  likewise  be  converted  by 
the  mercy  of  God  to  a  zealous  profession  of  genuine 
Christianity. 

Thus  wonderfully  preserved  and  converted,  they  will 
become  proper  instruments  to  accomplish  the  yet  unful- 
filled purposes  of  tlie  jMost  High.  Scattered  over  the 
face  of  the  whole  earth,  they  will  carry  every  where  the 
tidings  of  their  own  defeat,  of  the  marvellous  power  of 
the  Lord,  and  of  the  restoration  of  Judah.     Meanwhile 


255 
•  , 

there  is  some  reason  to  suppose,  that  the  awful  apparition 
o{  the  Shechinah  will  still  remain  suspended  over  Jerusa- 
lem, visible  at  once  from  its  stupendous  height  to  a  whole 
liemisphere,  and  bearing  ample  attestation  to  the  veracity 
of  the  fugitives.*  Nor  will  thev  carry  their  messai^e  in 
vain.  Jiidah  is  indeed  restored:  but  the  lost  ten  tribes^ 
o/ZyrGe/ are  still  dispersed  through  the  extensive  regions 
of  the  north  and  of  the  east.  These,  according  to  the 
sure  word  of  prophecy,  however  they  may  be  now  con- 
cealed from  mortal  knowledge,  will  be  found  again,  and 
will  be  brought  back  into  the  country  of  their  fathers. 
All  nations  and  all  tongues  shall  come  and  see  the  glory 
of  the  Lord  ;  for  he  will  set  among  them  a  sign,  even  tha 
sign  of  the  Son  of  man,  the  sign  of  the  illuminated  She- 
ch'inah  ;  and  will  send  unto  them  those  that  have  escaped 
from  the  slaughter  of  tlie  Antichristian  corifederacij,  that 
they  may  declare  his  glory  among  the  nations.  Convinc- 
ed by  ocular  demonstration  that  God  doth  indeed  reign 
in  Zion,  and  at  once  divinely  impelled  and  enabled  both 
to  seek  out  from  among  them  and  to  find  the  lung-lost 
sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel,  they  will  bring  by  land,  in 
vast  caravans,  all  the  brethren  of  Jitdah  for  an  offering 
unto  the  Lord,  as  the  great  maritime  pozver  had  already 
brought  the  converted  Jews  fur  a  present  unto  the  Lord 
to  his  holy  mountain.  Then  shall  the  stick  oi  Joseph  be 
united  for  ever  with  the  stick  of  Jiidah  :  Ephraim  shall 
be  no  more  a  separate  people  :  but  the  whole  house  of 
Jacob  shall  become  one  nation  under  one  king,  even  the 
mystic  David,  Jesus  the  Messiah. 

The  various  prophecies,  which  speak  of  the  restoration 
of  the  ten  tribes,  certainly  cannot  relate  to  the  restoration 
of  those  detached  individuals  out  of  them,  who  returned 
with  Judah  from  the  Babylonian  captivity.  This  is  man- 
ifest, both  because  their  restoration  is  represented  as  per- 
fectly distinct  from  the  restoration  oi  Judah,  and  because 
it  is  placed  at  once  subsequent  to  that  event  and  to  the 
overthrow  oi Antichrist.     In  fact,  the  converted  fugitives 

*  I  apprehend  it  was  from  passages  of  this  import,  that  Mr.  Mede  supposed  that 
the  Jeivs  would  be  Converted  by  a  supernatural  manifestation  of  Christ.  Had  he 
said  the  ten  tribes,  instead  ©f  tk:  yizvs,  I  believe  he  would  have  approached  very  near 
to  the  truth. 


^S6 

from  the  army  o^  Antichrist  are  described  as  being  greatly 
instrumental  in  bringing  about  the  restoration  of  the  ten 
tribes.  Hence  their  restoration  is  plainly  future  :  and 
hence  we  cannot,  with  any  degree  of  consistency,  apply 
the  predictions  which  foretell  it  to  the  return  of  a  few  in- 
"dividuals  from  Babylon  with  Judah.  O^  the  Jeics^  who 
were  carried  away  captive  to  Babylon,  only  a  very  small 
part,  according  to  Houbigant  not  more  than  a  hundredth 
part,  returned  to  their  own  country.  Those,  who  were 
left  behind,  will  doubtless,  at  the  time  of  the  second  ad- 
vent, be  brought  back  along  with  their  brethren  of  the  ten 
tribes  ;  just  as  those  individuals  oi the  ten  tribes^  who  re- 
turned with  Judah  horn  Babylon,  and  (adhering  to  him 
notwithstanding  the  Samaritan  schism)  were  afterwards 
scattered  with  him  by  the  Romans,  will  be  brought  back 
with  their  brethren  the  Jeivs.  So  far,  but  no  further,  the 
otherwise  distinct  restorations  of  Judah  and  Joseph  will 
in  some  measure  be  mingled  together.  This  circum- 
stance is  very  accurately  noted  by  Ezekiel,  even  when 
predicting  the  two-fold  restoration  of  Judah  and  Joseph, 
and  their  suhsequent  union  under  one  king.  He  speaks 
neither  of  Judah  nor  Joseph  simply  ;  but  styles  the  one 
division  Judah  and  the  children  of  Israel  his  companions, 
and  the  other  division  Joseph  and  ail  the  house  oj  Israel 
his  companions  :  thus  plainly  intimating,  that  some  of  the 
childr^n  of /.vro^/ shall  return  with  Judah  ;  but  that  mem- 
bers of  «//  the  tribes,  not  of  the  kingdom  of  the  fen  tribes 
only,  but  oi'  all  the  tribes,  shall  return  with  Joseph.^ 

1  have  stated  that  the  restoration  of  Judah  will  com- 
mence at  the  close  of  the  I960  years.,  and  have  intimated 
it  to  be  probable  that  it  will  not  be  completely  effected 
till  a  period  of  30  additional  years  shall  likewise  have  ex- 
pired. This  conjecture  is  founded  upon  a  remarkable 
chronological  passage  in  the  book  of  Daniel.  The  pro- 
phet teaches  us,  that  7>5  years  will  intervene  between 
the  expiration  of  the  1260  ijears  and  the  commencement 
of  the  MiUenninin'.  and  these  7-5  ijears  he  divides,  with- 
out specifying  any  reason  for  such  a  division,  into  .30 
years  and  4-j  years.     What  particular  event  will  happen 

*  See  Bp.  Horsley's  Hosea,  p.  59,  60, 


^57 

•  •• • 

lit  the  era  of  the  division,  we  undoubtedly  cannot  defer" 
mhiew'nh  any  degree  of  certaintij  ;  because  Daniel  has  left 
it  wholly  undetermined :  but  we  must  conclude,  that  the 
point  of  the  division  will  be  marked  by  some  signal  event ; 
otherwise  how  can  we  rationally  account  for  its  havmg 
been  made  ?  N(^)w,  when  we  find  by  comparing  prophe- 
cy with  prophecy,  that  the  restoration  oi  J udaiiv,'\\\  pre- 
cede the  restoration  of  Israel,  and  that  the  restoration  of 
Israel  will  not  even  so  much  as  commence  till  the  resto- 
ration of  at  least  the  main  body  of  Judah  is  completed, 
and  till  the  power  of  Antichrist  is  broken  :  it  is  at  least 
highly  probable,  that  the  30  years  v\ill  be  occupied  in 
the  conversion  and  restoration  of  Judah,  in  tiie  g^reat 
earthquake  Q>x  political  convulsion  \}(\^X.  divides  Me  Latin 
empire  into  three  parts,  in  the  wars  of  Antichrist  with 
the  kings  of  the  South  and  the  North,  in  his  grand  expe- 
dition against  Palestine  and  Eg f/pt,  and  in  the  contempo- 
rary naval  expedition  of  the  maritime poxer  undertaken  for 
the  purpose  of  bringing  back  the  converted  J eii:s  ;  that 
the  SO  years  \^\\\  close  with  the  complete  overthrow  of 
Antichrist  in  the  valley  of  ]\legiddo,  an  event  than  which 
one  cannot  conceive  one  better  calculated  to  mark  a  sig- 
nal chronological  epoch  ;  and  that  the  45  years  will  be 
empkned  in  the  wanderings  of  those  who  escaped  from 
the  rout  of  the  Antichrisiian  army  and  who  will  carry 
every  where  the  tidings  of  God's  supernatural  interfer- 
ence, and  in  the  subsequent  conversion  and  restoration 
of  the  whole  house  o{  Israel.  I  wish  this  to  be  under- 
stood only  as  a  conjecture  ;  for  it  would  be  folly  to  speak 
positively  before  the  event. 

When  the  4o  iieurs  shall  have  expired,  when  the  whole 
family  oi  Jacob  shall  have  been  converted  and  restored, 
and  when  the  stick  oi  Judah  shall  have  united  itself  for- 
ever with  the  stick  of  Joseph  ;  then  v\ill  commence  the 
season  of  millenman  blessedness.  We  have  reason  to  sup- 
pose, that  the  ancient  people  of  God,  now  converted  to 
the  faith  of  Christ,  will  be  greatly  instrumental  in  spread- 
ing the  glad  tidings  of  the  Gospel  among  the  heathen 
nations,  already  prepared  to  receive  it  by  so  many  super- 
natural interpositi'  ns  of  Providence,  and  by  beholding 
with  their  own  eyes  the  glory  of  the  Lord  permanently- 

VOL.  II.  3o 


2j3 

manifested  over  Jerusalem.  According  to  the  united 
testimony  of  many  of  the  prophets,  Israel^  after  his  res- 
toration, will  be  sown  among  t/w  Genliies  ;  and  will  thus 
be  made,  in  a  wonderful  manner,  from  first  to  last,  the 
seed  of  the  Church.  This  preaching  of  the  Gospel  by 
the  concerted  Israelites^  unlike  the  preaching  of  it  by 
that  first  handful  only  of  seed  the  Hebrew  Apostles  of 
our  Lord,  will,  1  apprehend,  be  totally  unattended  by 
persecution  or  opposition  :  for  all  trials  of  that  nature 
would  be  incompatible  with  the  predicted  peace  and 
blessedness  of  the  jNlillennian  Church.  God  will  in- 
cline the  hearts  of  the  Gentiles  to  receive  the  word  glad- 
ly. Great  shall  be  the  day  of  Jezrael.  For,  if  the  fall 
of  the  Jews  be  the  riches  of  the  world,  and  the  dimin- 
ishing of  them  the  riches  of  the  Gentiles ;  how  much 
more  their  fulness  !  Nay,  instead  of  opposing  or  slight- 
ing the  truth,  so  eager  shall  the  heathens  be  to  receive 
it,  that  out  of  all  the  languages  of  the  nations  ten  men 
shall  lay  hold  of  the  skirt  of  only  one  i^w^  declaring, 
with  a  holy  vehemence,  their  full  determination  to  go 
with  him,  inasmuch  as  they  have  heard  that  God  is  with 
him  of  a  truth.  In  short,  the  whole  world  shall  press 
eagerly  to  Jerusalem  to  behold  the  glory  of  the  Lord, 
and  to  receive  instruction  from  the  lips  of  his  servants. 
All  nations  shall  flow%  like  a  mighty  torrent  to  his  holy 
mountain,  assured  that  he  will  teach  them  of  his  ways, 
and  cause  them  to  walk  in  his  paths;  that  the  law  shall 
go  forth  out  of  Zion,  and  the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Je- 
rusalem. 

It  is  not  impossible,  that  some  may  feel  a  curiosity  to 
know  ii:'hut  nation  is  intended  by  the  great  maritime pon'- 
er  destined  to  take  so  conspicuous  a  part  in  the  conver- 
sion and  restoration  o?  Jndah.  On  this  point  their  curi- 
osity cannot  be  gratified  ;  at  least,  not  with  any  degree 
precision.  Yet,  although  we  presume  not  to  say,  that, 
this  or  that  particular  modern  nation  is  intended  ;  we 
may,  by  comparing  prophecy  with  prophecy  ascertain 
both  the  region  in  which  that  nation  is  to  be  sought,  and 
the  religious  character  of  that  nation.  The  result  of 
such  a  comparison  is  briefly  as  follows  :  that  the  niuri- 
time poK'er  must  not  only   be  sought  ioY  genera/If/  in  the] 


259 

iVesl,  but  prn^ticularly  in  the  isles  of  the  Gentiles  or  Eu~ 
rope  ;  and,  not  only  generally  in  the  isles  of  the  Gentiles 
or  Europe^  but  particular ly  in  ?Ae  believing  isles  of  the 
Gentiles  ov  protestant  Europe.^  Further  than  this  1  can- 
not find  that  we  have  any  authority  to  advance,  and 
therefore  I  shall  not  attempt  to  advance  further  :  but  I 
shall  content  myself  with  resting  in  the  conclusion,  that 
the  maritime  poller  will  be  that  state  of  jirotestant  Eu- 
rope zvhich  shall  possess  a  decided  naval  superiority  at  the 
time  when  the  1260  years  shall  expire.  This  mighty 
inaritime  power  ^  and  other  smaller  protest  ant  maritime 
pozi^ers  its  allies,  described  by  the  prophet  under  the  gen- 
eral name  of  the  isles  of  the  Gentiles,'\  will  clearly  be  the 
agents  in  converting  and  restoring  those  Jezcs  who  are 
not  under  the  influence  of  Antichrist. 

From  what  has  been  said  concerning  the  events  which 
are  to  take  place  at  the  close  oi  the  1260  ijears^  the  follow- 
ing positions  may,  1  think,  be  collected. 

I.  TheJezi)smos>\.  certainly  ?c;/// be  restored.  2.  They 
will  as  certainly  be  converted  to  Christianity.  3.  They 
will  begin  to  be  restored  as  soon  as  the  1260  ijears  shall 
have  expired.:}:  4.  They  will  be  restored  in  tzvo  great 
divisions.  5.  The  first  of  these  divisions  will  be  restor- 
ed in  a  converted  state  hy  the  prevailing  protestant  mari- 
time power  of  the  day.  6.  The  second  will  be  restored 
in  an  unconverted  state,  and  in  opposition  to  the  views  of 
the  maritime  pozcer,  by  a  confederacy  consisting  of  the 
Roman  beast  under  his  last  head^  the  false  prophet,  and 
the  vassal  kings  of  the  earth  or  Latin  empire.     7-    The 

*  This  comparison  is  drawn  out  at  length  in  my  unpublished  Work  on  tbe  resto- 
ration  of  Israel,  and  the  overthroiu  of  Antichrist, 

f  Isaiah  Ix.  9.  That  part  of  the  isles  of  the  Gentiles  is  of  course  here  spoken  of, 
wliich  is  not  subject  to  the  control  of  Antichrist. 

\  Since  Daniel  declares,  that  the  yeius  will  begnn  to  be  restored  at  the  end  of 
the  1260  years,  and  since  our  Lord  no  less  expressly  predicts  that  "  Jerusalem  shall 
be  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles,  until  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  be  fulfilled  ;"  it  is 
manifest,  that  those  times  will  begin  to  be  fulfilled,  so  soon  as  the  1260yiars  shall  have 
expired,  and  that  they  will  be  completely  fulfilled,  when  the  Antichristian  confederacy 
is  broken  and  when  the  Jeivs  are  wholly  restored.  Thus  v/onderfuUy  do  both 
these  prophecies  harmonize  with  St.  John's  description  of  the  fnal  battle  of  Arma- 
geddon and  the  vintage ;  as  well  as  with  the  parallel  predictions  of  Joel,  Zechariah, 
and  others  of  the  ancient  prophets.  The  fulness  of  the  Gentiles,  mentioned  by  St. 
Paul  as  tlie  era  of  the  restoration  of  the  feivs,  must  therefore  mean  their  attaining 
to  that  height  of  luicheiiiess  '.vhicb  should  mark  the  period  ivhcn  their  tirms  should  bs  fulfilhd .. 
Rom.  xi.  35. 


260 

confederacy^  one  member  of  which  is  certainly  the  atlie- 
istico-papal  king^  having  sanctified  their  war  by  procla- 
mation, will  successfully  invade  Palestine  by  land,  will 
occupy  Egypf^  vvill  return  and  sack  Jerusalem,  and  will 
plant  the  curtains  of  their  pavilions  between  the  seas  in 
the  glorious  holy  mountain.  8.  Their  triumph  however 
after  this  last  exploit  will  be  but  short.  Assembling 
themselves  together  at  Megiddo,  they  will  suddenly  be 
overthrown  by  the  divine  Word  of  God,  and  will  be  agi- 
tated by  such  a  preternatural  confusion  as  to  draw  every 
man  his  sword  against  his  fellow  :  so  that  the  bulk  of 
this  jnightif  northern  army  s\\d\\  miserably  perish  between 
the  seas  of  Palestine  ;  and  the  infidel  tijrant  himself  come 
to  his  end,  none  being  able  to  help  him.  9-  ^he  Lathi 
city  will  be  divided  by  an  earthqualce  into  three  parts  at 
the  first  effusion  of  the  seventh  via/ ;  the  earthquake^  the 
expedition  of  Antichrist^  and  the  rout  at  Armageddon^  be- 
ing equally  comprehended  under  the  same  vial.  10.  Two 
out  of  three  parts  of  the  bestial  confederacy  will  be  de- 
stroyed at  Megiddo.  11.  The  power  of  the  beast  and 
the  false  prophet  will  be  for  ever  broken  by  their  last  de- 
cisive overthrow  in  the  valley  of  the  Lord's  judgment. 
12.  The  third  part  of  the  bestial  confederacy  will  be 
spared,  and  converted.  13.  This  third  part  \\\\\  be  scat- 
tered among  the  nations,  and  vvill  be  instrumental  in  pre- 
paring the  way  for  the  restoration  and  conversion  oi  the 
ten  tribes.  14.  The  ten  tribes  will  be  restored  and  will 
be  for  ever  united  with  the  tribe  ofJudah^  so  as  to  form 
with  it  only  one  nation.  \5.  At  the  end  of  7«3  years^ 
after  the  termination  of  the  1260  years,  the  season  of 
millcnnian  rest  will  commence.* 

"  Though  I  am  unable  to  assent  to  the  ingenious  Mr.  King's  scheme  of  apoca- 
lyptic interpretation,  his  remarks  upon  Palestine,  considered  as  the  centre  of  the 
millenniyn  empire  of  Christ  upon  earth,  are  highly  worthy  of  notice.  "  How  capa- 
ble this  country  is  of  a  more  universal  intercourse,  than  any  other,  with  all  parts 
of  the  earth,  is  most  remarkable ;  and  deserves  well  to  be  considered,  when  we 
read  the  numerous  prophecies  which  speak  of  its  future  sipendour  and  greatness, 
when  its  people  shall  at  length  be  gathered  from  all  parts  of  the  earth  unto  which 
they  are  scattered,  and  be  restored  to  their  own  land.  There  is  no  region  in  the 
world,  to  which  an  access  from  all  part'j  is  so  open.  By  means  of  the  Black  sea, 
and  the  Mediterranean,  there  is  an  easy  approach  from  all  parts  of  Europe,  from 
a  great  part  of  Africa,  and  from  America.  By  means  of  tliC  Red  sea, and  the  Per- 
sian gulph,  and  the  well-known  roads  from  thence,  there  is  an  approach  from  the 
r^t  of  Africa,  fron«  the  East  Indies,  and  from  the  Isles.    And  lastly,  by  means  of 


261 

All  these  matters  are  clearly  predicted  by  the  prophets. 
The  manner^  in  which  they  will  be  accomplished,  affords  a 
vast  field  tor  conjecture  :  but  their  accoraplishment  itself"\s 
no  vain  speculation  :  in  God's  own  good  time,  that  must 
take  place  :  how  it  will  take  place,  we  know  not  beyond 
what  IS  revealed.  Respecting  the  yet  future  and  mys- 
terious LVldleimium^  the  less  that  is  said  upon  the  subject 
the  better.  Unable  myself  to  form  the  slightest  concep- 
tion of  its  specific  nature,  I  shall  weary  neither  my  own 
nor  my  reader's  patience  with  premature  remarks  upon 
it.  That  it  -jdHI  be  a  season  of  great  blessedness  is  cer- 
tain :  further  than  this  we  know  nothing  definitely, 
"  The  secret  things  belong  unto  the  Lord  our  God  :  but 
those  things  which  are  revealed  belong  unto  us  and  to 
our  children  for  ever,  that  we  may  do  all  the  words  of 
this  Law."* 


CHAPTER     XII. 

Recapitulation  and  Conclusion. 

FROM  what  has  been  said  we  learn,  that  the 
1260  daijs  are  the  appointed  hour  oj  the  poizjers  of  dark- 
ness., the  space  of  time  allotted  for  the  prevalence  both  of 
Popery  and  Mohamniedism  and  for  the  short-lived  tri- 
umph of  A niichrisi . 

in  the  year  6O6,  the  saints  seem  to  have  been  first  giv- 
en by   the  secular  power  of  the  Roman  empire  into  the 

the  Caspian,  the  Lake  or  sea  of  Baykall,  and  the  near  communication  of  many 
great  rivers,  the  approacli  is  facihtated  from  all  the  northern  parts  of  Tartary.  In 
short,  if  a  skilful  geographer  were  to  sit  down  to  devise  the  fittest  spot  on  tiie  globe 
for  universal  empire  ;  or  rather,  a  spot,  where  all  the  great  intercourses  of  hum.an 
life  should  universally  centre ;  and  from  whence  the  extended  efFects  of  universal 
benevolence  and  good-will  should  flow  to  all  parts  of  the  earth  ;  and  where  uni- 
versal and  united  homage  should  be  paid,  with  one  consent,  to  the  Most  High  : 
he  could  not  find  another  so  well  suited,  in  all  circumstances,  as  that  which  is  with 
emphasis  called  The  Ho!\  Land.  These  observations  perhaps  may  not  deserve 
great  weight,  but  they  ought  not  to  be  vv^hollv  neglected  ;  especially  when  it  is 
considered,  how  many  passages  of  Scripture  there  are,  which  plainly  declare,  thals- 
the  time  J ''j// at  length  come,  when  Zioii  shall  be  the  joy  of  the  v.-bole  earth." 
Note  to  Hymns  to  the  Supreme  Being,  p.  126. 

■'  Deut.  xxix.  29. 


262 

h^nd  o^  ihe  Papal  little  Aorw,- consequently  from  this 
year  the  1260  </«y.9  ought  most  probably  to  be  computed. 

The  desolating  transgression  of  the  Mohammedan  little 
horn  however  is  destined  to  prevail  during  the  same  space 
of  time,  that  the  Papal  little  horn  is  permitted  to  reign. 
Hence,  in  order  that  the  tico  periods  of  12^)0  ijears  each 
might  be  made  to  synchronize  together,  it  seemed  neces- 
sary, that  the  desolating  transgression  of  Mohammedism 
should  first  make  its  appearance  in  the  very  year  that  the 
saints  were  delivered  into  the  hand  oi  the  Papal  little 
horn.  Accordingly  we  find,  that  it  did  first  make  its  ap- 
pearance in  that  year;  for  the  year  606  is  the  most  prop- 
er date  of  the  Mohammedan  imposture^  because  in  that 
year  Mohammed  first  retired  to  the  cave  of  Hera. 

I.  The  Papal  horn  arose,  as  we  have  seen,  at  the  pre- 
cise time  when  Daniel  predicted  that  it  should  arise  ; 
namely,  while  the  Roman  empire  was  falling  asunder,  and 
while  ten  independent  kingdoms  were  springing  up  out  of 
its  ruins.  It  arose  gradually  and  almost  imperceptibly 
among  and  behind  the  ten  horns  of  the  fourth  beast ;  three 
of  ichich  were  successively  eradicated  before  it,  and  by 
their  fall  gave  it  an  opportunity  of  becoming  a  temporal 
no  less  than  a  spiritual  power.  For  some  time  after  its 
rise  it  was  only  an  ecclesiastical  kingdom  :  but  that  king- 
dom, though  small  at  first,  continued  perpetually  to  in- 
crease in  size  ;  till,  in  the  year  606,  when  the  Pope  was 
declared  Universal  Bishop  and  supreme  head  of  the  cath- 
olic Church,  it  became  a  mighty  ecclesiastical  empire. 
At  this  era,  which  seems  to  be  the  proper  date  of  the 
1260  i/ears,  and  the  epoch  when  the  old  pagan  Roman 
heast  which  had  been  mortally  wounded  by  t  he  Szcord  of  the 
Spirit  under  his  sixth  head  revived  under  the  same 
sixth  head  by  setting  up  a  spiritual  tyrant  in  the  Church 
and  by  relapsing  into  idolatry,  St.  John  first  introduces 
upon  the  stage  the  pozcer  which  Daniel  symbolizes  by 
the  little  horn  of  the  fourth  beast.  That  power  how- 
ever was  now  become  an  universal  empire,  instead  of 
being,  what  it  had  hitherto  been,  a  limited  ecclesias- 
tical kingdom.  Hence  the  Apostle,  instead  of  rep- 
resenting the  ten-horned  beast  as  having  likewise  a  lit- 
tle horHf  describes  him  as  attended   by  a  second  beasf^ 


265 

whose  character  precisely  answers  to  that  of  the  little 
horn.  By  the  instigation  of  this  corrupt  spiritual  power, 
the  ten-horned  beast ^  or  the  secular  Roman  empire,  wages 
war  with  the  saints  during  the  period  of  the  1260  dai/s^ 
through  the  instrumentality  either  of  his  last  head  or  his 
ten  horns. 

2.  The  desolating  transgression  of  Mohammedism  arose 
in  the  same  year  that  the  Papal  horn  became  an  univer- 
sal spiritual  empire.  A  few  years  after  its  rise,  it  acquir- 
ed its  predicted  character  of  a  little  horn  of  the  Macedo- 
nian he-goat ;  and  soon,  agreeably  to  the  prophecy,  wax- 
ed exceeding  great  toward  the  south,  and  toward  the 
east,  and  toward  the  pleasant  land.  In  the  course  of  its 
progress  it  cast  down  many  of  the  symbolical  stars.,  or 
Christian  pastors.,  to  the  ground  ;  took  away  the  dailif 
^tfcn/^ceof  praise  and  thanksgiving  ;  polluted  the  spiritual 
sanctuary ;  and  presumed  to  magnify  itself  against  even 
the  Prince  of  princes.  As  for  its  character,  it  was  no- 
torious for  trampling  upon  the  truth  ;  for  prospering  in  a 
wonderful  manner;  for  making  its  appearance,  exactly 
when  the  transgressors  were  come  to  the  full  by  public- 
ly re-establishing  idolatry  ;  for  teaching  dark  sentences ; 
for  being  mighty  not  through  its  own  unaided  power  ;  for 
exterminating  its  opponents  with  the  utmost  barbarity; 
for  persecuting  with  peculiar  violence  the  people  of  the 
Holy  Ones  ;  for  advancing  itself  by  craft  ;  and  for  destro}'- 
ing  many  while  in  a  state  of  negligent  security. 

In  the  Apocalypse  a  more  full  account  is  given  of  the 
agents  by  whom  this  apostate  religion  should  be  propaga- 
ted. A  fallen  star  opens  the  bottomless  pit,  and  lets  out 
the  destroying  king  of  the  locusts.  These  locusts  are  per- 
mitted to  continue  their  ravages  during  the  space  oi'fve 
prophetic  months  or  \ 50  years ;  which  is  found  from  his- 
tory to  be  the  precise  period  allotted  to  the  continuation 
of  the  Saracenic  incursions.  The  locusts  are  succeeded 
by  an  immense  body  of  horsemen  unAexfour  leaders  from 
the  banks  of  the  Euphrates ;  whose  commission  is  limited 
to  an  hour  and  a  daif  and  month  and  a  year,  or  391  years 
and  \5  days,  and  who  are  empowered  to  kill  a  third  part 
of  men  o\  the  Roman  empire,  which  their  predecessors 
the  Saracenic  locusts  had  only  been  permitted  to  torment. 


964* 


History  accordingly  teaches  us,  that  the  Saracens  were 
succeeded  by  the  Turks  :  who  came  under  Jour  leaders 
from  the  banks  of  ^/ze  Euphrates ;  whose  armies  consist- 
ed almost  entirely  o^  cavalry  ;  whose  career  of  conquest 
exactly  continued  39 1  years;  and  who  subverted  the  Co/i- 
stantinopolitan  empire^  which  the  Saracens^  severely  as 
they  harassed  it,  had  never  been  able  to  effect. 

The  Mohammedan  little  horn  itself,  or  the  religion  of 
Mohammed^  is  to  prevail  to  the  end  of  2200  years  from 
the  invasion  of  Asia  by  Alexander  the  great;  which  is 
found  to  bring  us  down  exactly  to  the  year  1866,  and 
thus  to  allow  precisely  1260  years  for  the  triumphs  of 
Mohammedism,  reckoning  from  its  commencement  in  the 
year  606. 

3.  After  the  era  of  the  Reformation.,  and  in  the  last 
days  of  atheism  and  insubordination,  but  previous  to  the 
commencement  of  the  time  of  the  end,  the  infidel  king, 
according  to  the  sure  word  of  prophecy,  was  destined  to 
arise  ;  that  AnHchrist.,  who  was  alike  to  deny  both  the 
Father  and  the  Son  ;  that  audacious  tyrant,  who  should 
magnify  himself  above  every  god,  who  should  speak 
marvellous  things  against  the  God  of  gods,  who  should 
neither  regard  the  God  of  his  fathers  nor  the  desire  of 
women,  who  should  nevertheless  honour  a  foreign  god 
and  acknowledge  gods  protectors,  and  who  should  be  al- 
lov^'ed  to  prosper  till  the  indignation  be  accomplished. 

A.S  the  contemporary  rise  and  progress  of  Poperij  and 
Mohammedism  is  described  in  the  Apocalypse  under  the 
tidio  first  icoe-trumpets,  so  the  appearance  of  the  great  An- 
tichrist is  announced  by  the  third.  His  full  develope- 
ment  however  is  to  be  immediately  preceded  by  the  last 
event  of  the  second  icoc-trumpet,  a  tremendous  earthquake 
by  which  a  tenth  part  of  the  great  Latin  city,  or  one  of 
the  ten  horns  of  the  Roman  beast,  is  to  be  overthrown. 
This  last  :coe,  which  extends  beyond  the  termination  of 
the  1260  i/eaj's  at  least  to  the  end  o^  the  seventh  vial,  if 
not  to  the  commencement  of  the  Mi'lenni'un,  compre- 
hends the  periods  o^  the  harvest  and  the  vintage. 

Thus,  after  the  epoch  oi  the  Reformation,  and  imme- 
diately after  the  French  Revoluiion  of  the  ifear  17^9.  we 
have  seen  the  manifestation  of  a  terrific  monster,  which 


^65 

alike  set  at  defiance  the  laws  both  of  God  and  man.  We 
have  beheld  scenes  of  carnage  and  impiety,  which  well  de- 
serve to  be  ushered  in  by  a  distinct  zooe-trumpet,  and 
which  may  justly  claim  to  themselves  the  title  of  «  /tar- 
vest  of  God's  wrath.  These  scenes  have  at  length  passed 
away,  like  the  distempered  and  fantastic  visions  of  a  sick 
man  ;  and  the  sun  ofniilitarif  tyranmj  has  begun  to  scorch 
the  irreclaimable  inhabitants  cti  the  Pupal  Roman  empire 
with  an  intolerable  heat.  The  madness  of  the  harvest 
therefore  is  past ;  and  we  must  expect  in  due  season  the 
commencement  oi  the  vintage.,  in  which  the  enemies  of 
God  will  be  finally  deslroved  for  ever. 

At  present  we  are  living  under  the  fourth  i?/a/ ;*  and, 
from  the  great  length  of  time  which  both  Fopery  and 
Mohammedism  have  continued,  we  cannot  be  very  far 
removed  from  the  end  of  the  1260  daifs.,  whatever  be  the 
precise  year  from  whi'^h  they  ought  to  be  dated.  The 
year,  which  I  have  fixed  upon  for  their  date,  is  the  y ear 
606  ;  a  year  marked  by  so  singular  a  combination  of  cir- 
cumstances, that  1  know  not  how  any  other  can  with 
equal  propriety  be  selected.  If  then  1  be  right  in  my 
opinion,  we  are  now  removed  but  little  more  than  60 
years  from  the  commencement  of  the  time  of  the  end  and 
of  the  viiitage  of  God's  wrath.  Be  this  however  as  it 
may,  we  are  undoubtedly  living  in  the  last  dai/s  of  blas- 
phemous infidelitif.,  in  that  awful  period  which  is  the  pC' 
culiar  reign  of  Antichrist.  The  signs  of  the  times  all 
concur  to  teach  us,  that  we  are  fast  approaching  towards 
the  catastrophe  of  the  great  drama.  We  have  seen  the 
unexpected  union  of  Injidelitif  and  Popery  ;  an  union, 
no  doubt  preparatory  to  the  predicted  final  league  of  the 
beast.,  the  false  prophet.,  and  the  kings  of  the  papal  earth,'\ 
We  have  seen  measures  taken,  as  it  were,  towards  mak- 
ing the  atheistical  king  the  last  heart  of  the  beast. "^  We 
have  seen  Palestine,  the  predicted  stage  on  which  Anti- 
christ with  his  congregated  vassals  is  doomed  to  perish, 

*  T  have  already  stated  it   to  be  not  improhahh,  that  the  ffth  vial  may  have  been 
■poured  out  since  this  Work  was  first  published.     June  JO,  1806. 

f  This  confederacy  seems  now  actually  to  have  begun  to  be  formed.     June  10,  If  OC 

\  There  is  reason  to  believe,  that  the  atheistical  lin^  is  now  become  the  lasf  or  Car- 
lo-vingian  head  of  the  beast.      June  10,  180C. 

VOL.    II.  34 


266 

brought  forward  in  a  remarkable  manner  to  public  no- 
tice, and  becoming  at  once  a  subject  of  political  discus- 
sion and  an  object  of  hostile  invasion.  We  have  seen 
the  kings  devouring  the  flesh  of  the  great  ivhore^  and 
making  her  naked  and  desolate,  though  her  spiritual  em- 
pire over  the  minds  of  men  still  continues.  We  have 
seen,  and  may  now  see,  the  waters  of  the  mifstic  Eu- 
phrates rapidly  drying  up,  previous  to  their  final  com- 
plete exhaustion  under  the  sixth  vial.  And  we  have 
seen  of  late  years,  what  1  cannot  but  consider  as  at  least 
one  of  the  minor  signs  of  the  times,  an  unusual  and 
laudable  attention  paid,  in  this  protestant  country,  to  the 
predictions  of  the  ancient  prophets.  Although  the  book 
be  sealed,  and  will  not  be  fully  understood,  till  the  time 
of  the  end  :  yet,  as  that  time  is  now  approaching,  many 
run  to  and  fro  and  knowledge  is  increased.  Of  the  wick- 
ed indeed,  of  those  who  are  either  members  o^  the  great 
Apostacy  or  have  been  tainted  with  the  blasphemous 
impieties  of  Antichrist^  none  shall  understand  ;  but  the 
spiritually  wise  children  of  the  symbolical  icoman^  they 
who  profess  the  same  evangelical  principles  as  those  who 
perished  at  the  era  of //ze  Reformation  in  trying,  in  purg- 
ing, and  in  making  white,  their  apostate  brethren,  these 
shall  understand.* 

*  Compare  Dan.  xii.  3,  9,  10.  with  xi.  05.  Ths  -.i-he,  here  mentioned,  are  evi- 
dently the  same  as  those  men  of  understanding,  some  of  whom,  at  the  time  of  the  Refov 
matlon,  should  perish  in  attempting  to  propagate  the  truth.  To  these  spirituallv 
wise  children  alone  shall  it  be  given  of  their  heavenly  Father  to  understand  the  signs 
of  the  times  :  their  opponents,  through  ignorance  or  contempt  of  them,  will  sud- 
denly pull  down  swift  destruction  on  their  own  headj.  I  know  not  any  better  con> 
ment  upon  the  words  of  the  prophet  than  the  sciolist  Voltaire's  pert  remark,  that 
the  great  Sir  Isaac  Newton  wrote  his  comment  on  the  Revelation,  to  console  man- 
kind for  his  superiority  over  them  in  other  respects.  With  regard  to  a-.i  atterdiotr. 
paid  to  the  prophecies  being  one  of  the  signs  of  the  times,  the  Opinion  of  Sir  Isaac  Nevi'ton 
and  Bp.  Horsley  will  at  least  exempt  z?.'»  from  the  charge  of  fancifulness  in  enume- 
rating it  among  them.  "  Amongst  the  interpreters  of  the  last  age,"  says  Sir  Isaac, 
"  there  is  scarce  one  of  note  w^ho  hath  not  made  some  discoveries  worth  knowing  : 
and  thence  I  seem  to  gather,  that  God  is  about  opening  these  mysteries."  In  a  simi- 
lar manner,  the  Bishop  remarks,  that  the  character  of  the  maritime  people  destined  t9 
take  the  lead  in  the  restoration  of  fudah  "  seems  to  describe  some  Christian  country, 
where  the  prophecies,  relating  to  the  latter  ages,  will  meet  with  particular  attention  ; 
where  the  literal  sense  of  those,  which  promise  the  restoration  of  the  Jewish  people, 
will  be  strenuously  upheld  ;  and  where  these  will  be  so  successfully  expounded,  as  to 
be  the  principal  means,  by  God's  blessing,  of  removing  the  veil  from  the  hearts  of 
the  Israelites."  It  cannot  but  be  pleasing  to  the  serious  reader  to  observe  the  difFer- 
ent  estimation  in  which  prophecy  is  now  held  throughout  the  protestant  kingdom  of 
England,  from  what  it  was  by  the  Jews  previous  to  the  sacking  of  Jerusalem.  We 
are  informed  by  Josephus,  that  in  his  days  it  was  no  lincoramon  thing  to  hear  hi^ 


f67 

As  yet  we  have  beheld  no  signs  of  the  restoration  of 
Judah :  nor,'  to  all  appearance,  shall  we  behold  any,  till 
the  three  times  and  a  half  draw  very  near  to  their  ter- 
mination.* 

But,  when  that  famous  period  shall  have  expired,  then 
will  comnience  the  wars  of  Antichrist  with  the  kitigs  of 
the  south  and  the  north,  and  the  restoration  of  the  uncon- 
verted Jews  through  his  instrumentahty.  Then  will  the 
Lord  call  unto  the  land  spreading  wide  the  shadow  of  its 
wings,  which  is  beyond  the  rivers  of  Cush,  accustomed 
to  send  messengers  by  sea,  even  in  quick-sailing  vessels 
upon  the  surface  of  the  waters.  Then  shall  the  swift 
messengers  go  unto  a  nation,  dragged  away  and  plucked, 
unto  a  people  wonderful  from  the  beginning  hitherto, 
a  nation  expecting,  expecting,  and  trampled  under  foot, 
whose  land  rivers  have  spoiled.  Then  shall  all  the  in- 
habitants of  the  world,  and  dwellers  upon  earth,  see  the 
lifting  up,  as  it  were,  of  a  banner  upon  the  mountains  ; 
and  shall  hear  the  sounding,  as  it  were,  of  a  trumpet.  In 
spite  of  the  opposition  oi  the  at heistico-papal confederacy^ 
the  great  maritime  poioer  of  the  day  shall  take  the  lead 
in  the  restoration  of  the  converted  of  Judah  :  while  the 
enemies  of  the  Lord,  notwithstanding  their  invasion  of 
Palestine,  and  notwithstanding  their  temporary  success 
against  Jerusalem,  bent  only  upon  the  accomplishment 
of  their  own  schemes,  and  unconsciously  subject  to  the 
influence  of  Satanical  delusion, f  will  madly  rush  on  to 
their  own  destruction  in  the  valley  of  Megiddo,  in   the 

hardened  countrymen  ridicule  the  oracles  of  their  ancient  prophets,  which'they  had 
already  defied  by  crucifying  the  Messiah.  Koclt-rajulo  //.iv  «v  -pra;  avloii  $ia-/j!.og  avbga- 
;rcjv,  iy.KaTo  ii  to.  biia,  y.at  tv;  //.iv  Tr^ojnlc'V  QKr/nn;  auTng  ayvplmoc;  Koyoirouac  i:^\iva.^ov. 
(Joseph,  de  Bell.  Judaic.  L.  4.  C.  6.)  What  a  singular  resemblance  there  is  between 
this  state  of  the  Jews  and  that  of  the  French  at  the  time  of  their  boasted  Revolution. 

*  Since  this  was  written,  Buonaparte  has  begun  to  assemble /^^  Jeivt  in  a  grand 
council  at  Paris.  Whether  it  will  lead  to  their  restoration,  time  alone  can  deter- 
mine :  at  present  we  have  certainly  no  right  to  say  that  it  will.  The  avoived  plan 
of  the  usurper  is  to  incorporate  them  with  his  other  subjects  :  his  real  plan  may  be 
eomcthing  different.  It  is  said  that  t/ie  Jezus  of  Frankfort  have  impiously  hailed  him 
as  their  expected  Messiah.  Though  I  do  not  suppose  the  indrjidual  Buonaparte  to 
be  Antijhrist,  it  is  worthy  of  notice  that  Popish  commentators  have  adopted  the  be- 
lief of  some  of  the  fathers,  that,  whenever  Antishrist  should  appear,  ibe  Javs  would 
acknowledge  him  as  their  Messiah,  and  attempt  to  procure  their  restoration  by  his 
instrumentality.  See  Calmet's  Diet.  Won  AniU/jrist — Cornelius  a  Lapide's  Comment, 
in  Dan.  vii.  Rev.  xiii.     Nov.  20,  1806. 

■ir  R.CV.  xvi.  13,  14. 


26S 

region  between  the  two  seas,  the  region  whose  hmits 
extend  1600  furlongs. 

On  the  whole,  it  is  reasonable  to  conclude,  that  the 
time  is  not  very  far  distant,  when  the  symbolical  heaven 
and  earth  shall  pass  away,  and  when  the  personal  Word 
shall  begin  to  tread  the  ivine-press  of  the  fierceness  and 
wrath  of  Almighty  God.  Never  were  there  more  awful 
times  than  these  o^  the  third  woe-trumpet.  All  civilized 
government  has  been  in  a  state  of  commotion  ;  anil  the 
powers  of  Europe  have  been  shaken  to  their  very  centre. 
The  end  however  is  not  yet.  The  calamities  of  the  har- 
vest are  but  the  harbingers  of  those  which  shall  take 
place  under  the  last  vial  tiuring  the  period  of  the  vintage. 

For  ourselves,  we  have  only  to  labour,  through  the 
grace  of  God  and  the  assistance  of  his  Holy  Spirit, 
that  we  may  be  prepared  to  meet  the  Lord  at  his  coming. 
Death, whensoeverit  shall  arrest  our  progress,wiil  assured- 
ly be  the  end  of  the  world  to  each  of  us.  VV^e  pervest  the 
study  of  prophecy,  if  we  make  it  only  a  mere  curious 
speculation.  We  ought  rather  so  to  read  the  oracles  of 
God,  as  to  profit  by  them  in  all  holiness  of  life  and  con- 
versation. Neither  a  hearty  reprobation  of  the  cruelties 
and  corruptions  of  Poperij ;  nor  an  abhorrence  of  the  im- 
pious imposture  of  Mohummedism ;  nor  a  detestation  of 
the  diabolical  principles  of  Antichrist;  are  alone  suffi- 
cient to  prepare  us  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  We  must 
beware,  lest  we  have  a  name  that  we  live,  and  are  dead. 
We  must  be  watchful,  and  strengthen  the  things  which 
remain  that  are  ready  to  die  ;  lest  our  works  be  not  found 
perfect  before  God.*  It  will  be  but  small  comfort  to 
each  of  us  as  individuals,  that  our  country  is  preserved 
amidst  the  wreck  of  nations  to  fulfil  the  future  high  pur- 
poses of  the  Almighty,  if  we  through  our  own  negligence 
fall  short  of  the  promised  reward.  In  fine,  our  eternal 
interests  will  be  but  little  benefited  by  the  study  of  pro- 
phecy, unless  we  pursue  it  in  the  manner  which  the 
apostle  himself  hath  proposed  to  us.  "  Blessed  is  he 
that  readeth,  and  they  that  hear  the  words  of  this  pro- 
phecy, and  keep  those  things  which  are  written  therein  : 
for  the  time  is  at  hand.^f 

*  Rgv;  Ui,  1,  2.  f  Rev.  i.  3. 


^FFEMJDIX. 


WHEN  the  firft  edition  of  this  Diflertation  was  pubhfhed,  I  h--d 
not  had  an  opportunity  of  perufing  the  recently  printed  work  of  Arch- 
deacon Woodhoufe  on  the  Apocalypfe  ;  but  it  would  be  unpardonable, 
confidering  the  plan  which  I  have  adopted,  to  fufFer  a  fecoud  edition 
to  make  its  appearance  without  noticing  it.  The  thanks  of  every  bib- 
lical ftudent  are  due  to  the  learned  author  for  his  ven'  clear  and  con- 
vincing Di/fcrtation  on  the  divine  Origin  of  the  Apocalypfe,  and  likewife 
for  many  valuable  remarks  and  much  found  criticifm  contained  in  his 
notes  on  the  book.  /  feel  myfelt  peculiarly  gratified  and  intereiled  at 
finding  feveral  of  my  own  pofitions  maintained  and  eftablifhed  by  a 
writer,  with  whom  I  have  not  the  honour  of  being  acquainted,  and  whofe 
work  I  had  not  read  at  the  time  when  my  own  was  publifhed.  Thus, 
we  are  both  agreed,  that  Mohammedifm  conilitutes  one  half  of  a  grand 
apoflacy  from  the  purity  of  Chriflianity  ;*  that  the  apocalyptie  great  city 

*  The  pofition,  that  Mohammedifm  is  a  Chriftiaii  apojlacy,  is  fo  ably  treated  by  the 
Archdeacon,  that  I  cannot  refrain  from  ftrengthening  what  I  have  already  faid  on 
the  fubject  with  his  quotations  and  arguments. 

"  Mohammed  did  not  pretend  to  deliver  any  new  religion,  but  to  revive  the  old  one. — He 
alloived  both  the  Old  and  N^eiv  Tcjlaments,  and  that  both  Mofes  and  Jefus  ivere  prophets  fent 

from  God  (Prideaux's  Life  of  Mohammed,  p.  18,  19.)  ;  that  Jefus,  fan  of  Mary,  is  the 
word  and  ajpirit  fcnt  from  Cod.,  a  redeemer  of  all  that  believe  in  him.  (Sale's  Koran,  p. 
19,  30,  Q5.  Ockley's  Hid.  of  Saracens  II.)  Moharnraed  reprefents  himfelf  as  the 
Paraclete  or  Comforter  fent  by  Jefus  Chrifl,  John  xvi.  7.  (Koran,  p.  165.)  So,  in 
Mohammed's  afcent  to  heaven,  as  invented  in  the  Koran, wliile  the  patriarchs  and  pro- 
phets coniefs  their  inferiority  to  him  by  intreating  his  prayers,  in  the  feventh  heaven 
he  fees  Jefus,  whofe  fuperiority  the  falfe  prophet  acknowledges  by  commending 
himfelf  to  his  prayers.  (Sale's  Koran,  p.  1 7.  Prideaux's  Life  of  Mohammed,  p.  55^ 
Faith  in  the  divine  bo-^ks  is  a  necejfjry  article  cf  the  Mohammedan  creed ,  and  among  thefe  is 
the  Gofpel  given  to  If  a  or  fifus,  luhich  they  ajfert  to  be  corrupted  by  the  Chrijlians. — If  any 
Je^v  is  -willing  fo  become  a  Mohammedan,  he  muffrjl  believe  in  Chrijl :  and  this  qv.eflion  is- 
ajked  him,  Dofl  thou  believe  that  Chrijl  ■zvas  born  of  a  virgin  by  the  blajl  (i.  e.  infpiration)  of 
God.  and  that  he  -zvas  the  lajl  of  the  Jciviflj  prophets  ?  If  he  anfwers  in  the  affirmative, 
he  is  made  a  Mohammedan.  (Reland  on  Moham.  pref.  25,  11.)  Mohammed  arofe 
to  ejlablifh  a  nezv  religion,  ivhich  came  pretty  near  the  feiuifh,  and  -was  not  entirely  different 

from  that  of  feveral  feels  of  Chrifiians,  ivhich  gbt  him  a  great  many  folloivers.  f  Leibnitz's 
Letter,  1706.)  The  impofor  Mohammed  confffed  that  Jefus  ivas  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary, 
that  he  ivas  the  Word  of  God  fent  from  heaven,  the  Spirit  of  God  declared  by  the  miracles  of 
the  Gofpel,  the  prophet  of  God,  ivhefe  o£ice  it  ivas  to  deliver  the  Gofpel  and  teach  the  -way  of 
truth,  ivho  is  to  come  to  judgment  and  to  defray  Antichrif  and  convert  the  Jeivs.  'Thus  alfu 
be  taught,  that  the  Gofpel  of  Chrif,  and  the  laiv  of  Mfes,  and  all  the  prophets,  are  to  be  be- 
lieved. And  thus  he  ivas  better  inclined  to  the  Chrif.ians  than  to  the  fetus.  (Spanhem.  In- 
trod.  ad  hifl:  scec.  vii.  p.  609.)  Mohammedifm  began  as  a  chriftiaii  lierefy,  acknoidedging 
Chrif  for  a  prophet,  a  greater  than  Alofs,  born  cf  a  Virgin,  the  Word  of  God.      (Ricaut's 

Ottoman  empire,  p.  138.)     Sale  afTerts  the  Mohammedan  religion  to  be  not  only  « 

Chrif  ian  herefy,  but  an  improvement  upon  the  very  corrupt  idolatrous  ff  em  cf  the  feivs  and 

Chrif  ians  of  thofe  times.  (Prelim,  p.  15.)  Jofeph  Mede  affirms,  that  the  Moliamme- 
dans  are  nearer  to  Chriflianity  than  many  of  the  ancient  herefles,  the  Cerinthians, 
Gnoftics,  l^anichees.  (Works,  p.  645.)  Whatever  good  is  to  be  found  in  the  Moham- 
medan religion  (and  fome  good  doBrincs  and  precepts  there  undeniably  are  in  it,j  is  in  no  fmall 
meafure  oiving  to  Chrif  ianity  :  for  Mohammedifm  is  a  borro-vced  fyfcm,  made  up  for  the  mof 
fart  of  Judaifm  and  Chrif  ianity  ;   and,  if  it  be  confdered  in  the  mof  favourable  vieiv,  might 


270 

denotes,  not  merely  ihe  town  of  Rome,  but  a  corrupt  communion  ;*  that 
the  hoh  c'lly  is  not  the  literal  Jerufalem,  but  the  Chriftian  chnrch  ;f  that 
the  jirjl  beajl  of  the  apocalypfe  is  not  the  Papacy,  but  the  Roman  empire  ;;}: 
that  the  deadly  'wound  of  this  beajl  denotes  his  converfion  to  Chriflianity 
under  Conftantiiie,  and  that  his  revival  means  his  relapfing  intoiddatry  ;§ 
that  the  little  horn  of  Daniel's  fourth  beajl  cannot  be  the  fame  as  the  Jirjl 
apocalyptic  beajl,  in  other  words  that  it  cannot  be  the  fame  as  the  beajl 
himfelf  of  which  it  is  only  a  member  (as  fome  commentators  have  fin- 
gularly  fuppofed,)  but  that  it  is  the  fame  as  the  fecond  apocalyptic  beajl 
or  the  falfe  prophet  ;|j  that  the  deadly  ivound  and  revival  of  the  Jirjl  apoca- 
lyptic beajl  is  enigmatically  defcribed  by  the  phrafe  luas,  and  is  not,  and 
ytt  is  y^   that  the  time  of  the  end  denotes  the  expiration  of  the  1260  years  ; 

poffthly  bs  acromtteJ  a  fort  of  Ciiriftian  herefy.  If  the  Go/pel  Lad  never  been  preached,  k 
nay  be  quejlioned  "whether  Muliammedijm  ivould  have  exijlcd.  (Dr.  Jortin's  filft  Charge.) 
The  Mtijfulmans  are  already  a  fort  of  heterodox  ChriJ}':aiis.  They  are  Chriflians,  if  Locke 
rejfons  jtijily.,  bccanfe  they  frmly  believe  the  immaculate  conception,  divine  character,  and mira~ 
ehs  of  the  MeJJiuh  :  but  they  are  heterodox  in  denying  vehemently  his  cliaraSler  of  Son,  and  hri 
equality,  as  God,  luith  the  Father,  of  ivhofe  unity  and  attributes  they  entertain  and  exprefs  the 
mofl  aivfiil  ideas,  -while  they  conftder  our  doBrine  as  pcrfet'l  blafphemy,  and  infifi  that  our 
copies  of  the  Scriptures  have  been  corrupted  both  by  yews  and  Chriflians.  Sir  William  Jones 
ill  Afiatic  Refearchcs,  Vol.  I.  p.  G3. 

"  Thefe  are  fiich  teflimonies  as  have  occurred  to  me  in  no  very  extenfive  courfe 
of  reading.  They  are  derived  from  authors,  who  for  the  mofl  part  enjoyed  fav- 
ourable opportunities  of  examining  the  Moham.medan  tenets  ;  and  they  exhibit 
that  religion  as  riiing  upon  the  bafis  of  true  religion,  corrupted,  even  like  the  papal, 
to  ferve  tlie  purpofes  of  a  v^orldly  and  diabolical  tyranny.  In  the  Mohammedan 
religion  are  thefe  articles,  all  evidently  derived  from  the  Chriftian,  and  conflituting 
in  it  a  great  fuperidrity  above  any  thing  that  paganifm  or  mere  philofophy  have 
been  able  to  produce  :  the  belief  of  the  exigence  of  one  all-wife,  all-good,  all-pow- 
erful, God  ;  of  the  immortality  of  the  foul ;  of  future  rewards  and  punifliments  to 
be  diftributed  bv  Jfus  ;  of  the  acceptance  of  prayer,  of  fe!f-humiliation,  of  almfgiv- 
ing  ;  of  the  obligation  to  morality  in  almofi:  all  its  branches.  Take  from  Moham- 
medifm  one  article,  in  which  it  differs  from  all  religions  generally  admitted  to  be 
Chriftian,  the  belief  of  Mohammed'' s  divine  miffion  ;  and  little  will  then  be  found  in  it, 
which  may  not  be  difcovered  in  the  profeflion  of  many  acknowledged  Chriflians. 
Nay,  perhaps  it  may  appear,  that  the  creeds  of  two  bodies  of  Chriflians  will  fupply 
every  thing  which  is  to  be  frjund  in  Mohammedifm,  excepting  belief  in  the  pretended 
prophet  of  Mecca. 

"  On  the  whole,  when  we  confider  the  origin  of  Mohammedifm,  and  its  near 
afHniiy  to  corrupted  Chriftianity ;  when  we  refledl  alfo  on  the  amazing  extent 
of  this  fuperfcitious  domination,  which  occupies  nearly  as  large  a  portion  of  the 
g'.cibe,  as  that  poflelTed  by  Chriflians ;  comprizing  vaft  regions  in  ancient  Greece 
9nd  rVfia  Minor,  in  Syria,  in  Perfia,  in  the  hidies,  in  Tartary,  in  Egypt,  and  Africa, 
which  were  once  Chriftian  :  we  shall  readily  admit,  that,  if  not  a  Chriftian  herefy,  it 
is  at  leaft  a  Chriftian  apcfacv."     Apocalypfe  tranflated,  p.  365 — 370. 

*  P.  293,301,412,418.         f   P.   286.  i  P.  329 — 338,422 — 432. 

§  P.  336,  345,  426,  428,  436.  ||   P.  352—356. 

f  P.  426 — 428.  The  Archdeacon  argues  very  forcibly  againft  thole  who  with 
Mede  would  afcribe  the  fulfilment  of  this  myfterious  phrafe  to  the  age  in  which  the 
vilion  was  delivered.  "  Thefe  words  of  the  angel,  defcribing  the  beaft.  He  ivas, 
and  is  not,  and  yet  is,  appear  to  me  in  no  wife  applicable  to  the  tyranny  feated  at 
Rome  at  the  time  of  the  vifion,  luhcn  the  angel  [pake  them.  This  was  the  time  of  the 
Emperor  Domitian,  when  a  cruel  perfecution  raged  againft  the  Church,  when  St. 
.lohn  liinifelf  was  atSlually  fuffering  banillmient  in  Patmos  yor  the  -word  of  Cod  and  the 
pftlmor.y  of  Jefus.    Such  a  time  ^an  jn  no  wife  agra;  with  the  reprefentation,  th^t 


271 

that  the  apocalyptic  dragon  cannot  mean  pagan  Rome,  but  muft  typify  the 
devil  ;*  that  the  period  of  1260  years,  or  at  leaft  a  period  of  1260 
years,  ought  moft  probably  to  be  dated  from  the  year  606  ;f  and  con- 
iequentently  that  we  are  rapidly  approaching  to  the  cataftrophe  of  the 
great  apoftatic  drama.  J      In  thefe  points  I  have  the  fatisfadlion  of  fmd- 

the  beaft  ivas,  and  is  not.  It  is  therefore  probable,  that  the  time,  in  whicli  the  beaH: 
is  faid  to  have  been,  and  not  to  be,  and  yet  to  be,  is  the  time  when  he  arifeth  again 
after  his  wound,  to  exercife  dominion  under  the  direcTlion  of  the  harlot.  Tliis  time 
was  not  arrived  when  St.  John  faw  the  vilion  in  Patmos  :  but,  though  future  in 
this  fenfe,  it  was  prefent  in  another,  as  belonging  to  the  viiion  then  under  exhibi- 
tion :  for  the  bead:  was  then  prefent  in  exhibition  before  St.  John,  and  in  the  a6t  of 
re-afcending  to  power.  I'his  will  appear  more  probable  to  thofe,  who  read  for- 
ward from  this  paffage  to  the  end  of  the  8th  verfe,  where  the  admiration  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  earth  is  fpoken  of  as  yet  future  ;  and  yet  this  admiration  is  fixed 
upon  this  fame  objedl — the  beaft  which  was,  and  is  not,  and  yet  is," 

*  This  point  is  excellently  difcuffed  by  the  Archdeacon,  "  On  confukin'x  the 
writings  of  the  commentators  mofl:  approved  in  this  country,  I  find,  that  by  the 
dragon  is  generally  underflood  the  pagan  and  perfccuting  poiver  of  Imperial  Rovn.  But, 
I  truft,  a  few  obfervations  will  fliew  the  fallacy  of  this  notion. 

"  Where  an  interpretation  is  exprefsly  given  in  tlie  vifion,  as  in  ch.  i.  20  ;  v.  6,  9^ 
xvii.  7  ;  that  interpretation  mujl  be  ufed  as  the  key  to  the  myftery,  in  preference  to 
all  interpretations  fuggefled  by  the  imagination  of  man.  Now  in  the  9th  verfe  of 
this  chapter  (Rev.  xii.)  fuch  an  interpretation  is  prefented ;  the  dragon  is  there  ex- 
prefsly declared  to  that  ancient  ferpent  called  the  de-vil ;    known  by  tlie  name  of  AtafioKO- 

in  the  Greek,  and  of  Satan  in  the  Hebrew  ;  ivho  deceivcth  the  ivholc  -world.  Here  are 
his  names,  and  his  acknowledged  characSter.  No  words  can  more  completely  exprefr 
them.  No  Roman  emperor,  nor  fucceflion  of  emperors,  can  .infwer  to  this  defcrip- 
tion.  The  fame  dragon  appears  again  in  ch.  xx.  '2.  and  (as  it  were  to  prevent  mif- 
take)  he  is  there  defcribed  in  the  'very  fame  luords.  But  this  re-appearance  of  the 
fame  dragon  is  in  a  very  late  period  of  the  apocalyptic  hiftory ;  long  after  tlie  ex- 
piration  of  the  1260  days  or  years ;  and  even  after  the  wild  beafl:  and  falfo  prophet, 
who  derive  their  power  from  the  dragon  during  tliis  period,  are  come  to  their  end. 
And  the  dragon  is  upon  the  fcene  long  after  thefe  times,  and  continues  in  acliori 
even  at  the  end  of  another  long  period,  a  period  of  a  thoufand  years.  He  there 
purfues  his  ancient  artifices,  deceiving  the  nations,  even  till  his  final  cataftrophe,  in  ch. 
XX.  10,  when  the  warfare  of  the  Church  is  finillicd.  Can  this  dragon  then  be  an  em" 
feror  of  Rome  ?  or  any  race,  or  dynafly,  of  emperors  ?  Can  he  be  any  Other  than  that 
ancient  and  eternal  enemy  of  the  Chriftian  Church,  who  in  this,  as  in  all  other  fcrip- 
tural  accounts,  is  reprefented  as  the  original  contriver  of  all  the  niifchief  which  flsaU 
befall  it.  hi  this  drama,  he  adts  the  fame  confiftent  part  from  beginning  to  end.  He 
is  introduced  to  early  notice  as  warring  againft  the  Church  (ch.  ii.  10,  13.) — In  the 
fucceeding  conflicts,  the  Church  is  attacked  by  his  agents ;  bv  tlie  wild  bcaff  and 
falfe  prophet,  who  derive  their  power  from  him  :  and  al  length  he  himfclf  is  defcrib- 
ed, as  leading  the  nations  againft  the  camp  of  the  faints.  Nothing  appears  more 
plam  than  the  meaning  of  this  fymbol.  The  only  appearances,  which  inav  fccm  to 
favour  the  appHcation  of  it  to  Imperial  Rome  arc,  the  feven  crowned  heads,  and  the 
ten  horns  of  the  dragon.  But — the  feven  mountains  and  ten  horns,  of  the  latter  Ro- 
man empire  are  fitly  attributed  to  Satan,  becaiife  during  the  period  of  1260  years, 
and  perhaps  beyond  it,  he  makes  ufe  of  the  Roman  empire,  its  capital  city,  and  ten 
kings  or  kingdoms,  as  the  inftruments  of  his  fuccefsful  attack  on  the  Chriilian  Church. 
— The  dragon  therefore  appears  to  me,  as  he  did  to  Venerable  Bede  eleven  centuries 
ago,  to  be  Diabolus,potentia  terreni  mundi  armatus"      P.  324 — .326. 

f  P.  360.  The  Archdeacon  thinks,  that  there  are  more  than  one  period  of  1260 
years,    (p.  339 — 344.)    He  by  no  means  appears  tome  to  prove  hi* point. 

\  Nearly  all  the  more  recent  commentators  on  prophecy,  with  v.'hofe  writings  I  am 
acquainted,  feem  to  ngree  in  the  belief  that  we  camun  be  far  removed  from  the  end 
oithc  1S60^'M/-J.     The  \evy pkrafealog^  ufed  by  the  Arch.deacou  mofl foicibly  brought 


272 

ing  myfelf  fiipported  by  the  authority  of  the  Archdeacon  ;  but  in  va- 
rious other  matters  I  am  unable  to  agree  with  him. 

The  firft  objeftions,  which  I  have  to  urge,  are  of  a  general  nature  ; 
afterwards  I  may  defcend  to  particulars. 

I.  My  general  objections  are  to  the  Archdeacon's  principle  of  applying 
the  apocalyptic  prophecies,  when  carried  to  the  length  to  which  he  carries 
it  ;  and  to  his  fyjlem  of  arranging  the  Apocalypfe  itfelf,  on  which  a  great 
part  of  his  fubfequent  interpretations  is  founded. 

1.  He  conceives  the  prophecies  of  the  Apocalypfe  "  to  be  applicable 
principally,  if  not  folely,  to  the  fates  and  fortunes  of  the  Chriftian  Church."* 
Agreeably  to  this  fyftem,  he  interprets  the  fix  firfl  feals,  and  the  four 
Jirjl  trumpets,  as  relating  folely  to  ecclefiaftical  matters  ;  and  rejects  at 
once  both  the  ufual  chronological  arrangement  of  them,  and  the  almofl 
univeifal  fuppofition  that  the  four  frfl  trumpets  predict  the  calamities 
brought  upon  the  Roman  empire  by  the  incurfions  of  the  various  Gothic 
tribes  ?inA  the  final  complete  fubverfton  of  its  loeflern  div'fion.  The  prin- 
ciple is  undoubtedly  a  juft  one  ;f  adopted  with  moderation  ;  but  the 
Archdeacon  does  not  advance  any  arguments  in  favour  of  carrying  it  to 
the  length  which  he  does,  that  are  at  all  fatisfactor)'  to  my  own  mind. 
The  affairs  of  the  Church,  both  Levitical  and  Chriftian,  have  been 
more  or  lefs  connected,  from  very  early  ages,  with  empires  and  king- 
doms hoftile  to  the  caufe  of  true  religion  :  hence,  altnough  the  Church 
is  the  main  end  of  prophecy,  yet,  circumftanced  as  it  has  always  been, 
it  feems  nearl)'  impoffible  to  foretell  the  fates  of  the  Church  without 
likewife  fortelling  the  fates  of  the  great  powers  connected  with  it. 
Neverthelefs,  the  Church  being  the  ultimate  Icope  of  prophecy,  we  have 
no  occafion  to  go  into  "  the  wide  field  of  miiverfal  hiftory"-|-  to  fearch 
for  doubtful  interpretations  :  we  muft  confine  ourfelves  to  that  portion 
of  it,  which  alone  is  connefted  with  the  Church.  Accordingly  we  find, 
that  no  nations  are  particularized  in  prophecy  excepting  thofe  with 
which  the  Church  either  has  been  or  will  be  concerned.  Moab,  Edom, 
Amalek,  Nineveh,  Tyre,  Egypt,  the  four  great  empires,  and  a  yet  fu- 
ture confederacy  denominated  Gog  and  Magog,  are  all  very  fully  noticed  ; 
while  the  mighty  monarchies  of  China  and  Hindoilan  are  totally  over- 
looked. Now,  when  we  muft  acknowledge  fuch  to  be  the  cafe  with  the 
Old  Teftament,  why  are  we  to  conclude  that  the  apocalyptic  predictions 
are  framed  upon  a  different  principle  ?  and,  fince  throughout  the  whole 
of  the  Revelation  the  Church  is  connected  with  Daniel's  yor/r/Zi  beafl  or 
the  Roman  empire,  why  are  we  to  fuppofe  that  that  empire  is  never  fpok- 
en  of  except  when  the  ten-horned  beafl  is  fpecially  introduced,  that  is  to 
fay,  except  during  the  period  of  the  10.60  years  ? 

The  Archdeacon's  interpretation   of  the  feals  I  fhall  conilder  hereaf- 

to  my  recoUeclion  a  converfation  which  I  once  had  on  tliis  fuhjecl  wiili  tlie  late  Bp. 
Huriley.  His  l-ordflllp  avowed  it  to  be  his  opinion,  that,  before  the  prrfrnt  century) 
elapfed,  the  prophecies  relpecling  ibe  df.ruB'wn  of  the  Roman  1>l\iJ}  and  iLe  ovcrtircnv  of 
thf  Aitichripan  f^iiiun  would  be  no  lor.ger  a  fealed  book.  "'Ihe  days  will  come," 
lays  "J;e  Archdjv.con,  "and  feeni  at  no  very  great  diftan.ce  {th:  prfent  centvry  may 
pcrhipi  diftlofe  them),  wiien,  the  heart  and  falfo  prophet  being  removed,  and  Baby- 
lon funk  ior  ever,  the  devil,  that  ancient  foe,  fliall  be  deprived  of  his  wonted  influ- 
ence."    P.    JTO. 

*   Fref.  p.  xiii,  xiv.  f  Ibid.  p.  xv. 


I 


273 

tcr  ;  at  prefent  I  fiiall  confine  myfelf  to  tliat  oi  the  trumpets.  The  foitr 
jirjl  of  thefe  he  will  not  allow  to  relate  to  the  overthruiv  of  the  JVeJtern 
empire,  on  the  ground  that  the  fubject  of  the  Apocalypfe  is  the  fates  and 
fortunes  of  the  Chrifllan  Church.'*  But  are  not  thofe  fates  and  fortunes 
moll  clofely  connected  with  the  overthro'VJ  of  the  Wejlern  empire  ?  Ac- 
cording to  the  ufual  interpretation  of  the  four  jirfi  trumpets  and  the  ty- 
ranny of  the  tivo  leojls  during  the  period  of  the  XIQtQ  years,  every  thing 
appears  in  ftrict  chronological  order,  and  the  one  fucceflion  of  events  arifes 
naturally  out  of  the  other.  St.  Paul  teaches  us,  that,  when  he  that  letted 
or  the  Weftcrn  empire  (hould  be  taken  away,  then  fliould  the  man  of  fin 
be  revealed.  Now  what  is  the  particular  portion  of  the  Apocalypfe 
which  we  are  now  confidering  except  an  enlarged  repetition  of  St.  Paul's 
prediction  ?  He  that  letted  is  taken  away  ;  and  the  man  of  fm  forthwith 
rears  his  head  ; — the  Wejlern  empire  is  taken  away  by  the  operation  of 
the  four  firjl  trumpets  ;  and  the  great  apojlacy  of  1260  days,  the  reign  of 
the  falfe  prophet  and  his  temporal  fupporter,  fhortly  commences. 
The  one  is  preparatory  to  the  other  :  the  four  trumpets  are  merely  the  pre- 
lude to  what  may  be  termed  the  grand  fubject  of  the  Apocalypfe,  a 
nvonderful  tyranny  exercifed  'ivithin  the  Church  itfelf  by  the  upholders  of  the 
Apojlacy,  and  a  contemporary  Apojlacy  in  the  eajlern  ivorld fcarcely  lefs 
luouierful  than  that  in  the  ivejlern.  St.  Paul  and  St.  John  are  perfectly 
in  uniion  :  they  alike  connect  the  doivnfall  of  the  empire  with  the  fates  of 
the  Church.  Thus,  even  independent  of  the  Archdeacon's  chronological 
arrangement  wliich  fliall  prefently  be  difcuffed,  I  fee  not  why  the  old 
interpretation  of  the  four  trumpets,  or  at  lead  the  great  outlines  of  that  in- 
terpretation, ought  to  be  rejected. 

.•  The  Archdeacon  however  brings  an  argument  againft  fuch  an  inter- 
pretation of  the  four  trumptts  from  the  homogeneity  of  all  the  f even  trum.' 
pets.  He  infills  mofl  juftly,  that  what  the  nature  of  one  is  the  nature  of 
them  all  muft  be  :  and  oblerves  that  Mede,  in  order  to  make  them  ho- 
mogeneal,  interprets  the  fifth  and  the  Jlxth  trumpets  as  relating  to  the  at- 
tacks made  upon  the  empire  by  the  Saracens  and  Turls,  as  he  had  already 
referred  the  four  jirjl  to  the  attacks  previously  made  upon  the  empire  by  the 
Gcthic  tribes.  But  he  adds,  that  the  Jeventh  trumpet  announces  "  moft 
clearly  the  victory  obtained  by  Chrift  and  his  Church,  not  over  the  Ro- 
man empire,  but  over  the  powers  of  hell,  and  of  Antichrift,  and  a  cor- 
rupt world  ;  over  the  dragon,  the  beaft,  the  falfe  prophet,  and  in  pro- 
cefs  of  time  (tor  the  feventh  trumpet  continues  to  the  end)  over  death 
and  hell.  If  then,  under  the  feventh  trumpet,  the  warfare  of  the 
ChriftianChurch.be  fo  clearly  reprefented  (and  in  this  all  writers  are 
agreed),  what  are  we  to  think  of  the  fix  ?  How  muft  theyht  interpret- 
ed, fo  as  to  appear  homogeneal  ?  Are  they  to  be  accounted,  with 
Mede  and  his  followers,  the  fuccellive  fhocks,  by  which  the  Roman  em- 
pire fell  under  the  Goths  and  Vandals  ?  Homogeneity  forbids.  They 
mujl  therefore  be  fuppofed  to  contain  the  'warfare  of  the  Chrijlian  Church. 
And  this  warfare  may  be  fuccefsful  under  the  feventh  and  laft  trumpet, 
when  it  had  been  unfuccefsful  before,  yet  the  homogeneity  be  confiftently 
preferved.      For  the   queftion  is  not  concerning  the  fuccefs,  but  concern - 

*  P.  218 222. 

VOL.    U.  3.-3 


ing  ibe  wivfare.  And  tlic  trumpets  maybe  deemed  iiornogcncal,  if  they 
all  repreleiit  the  fmm  ivarfaye  (viz.  of  the  powers  of  h  U,  and  oi  the 
Antichriilian-  world,  againll  the  Church  of  Chriil),  whatever  may  be 
the  event."*  That  the  object  of  the  fcventh  trumpet  is  to  introduce  the 
victory  obtained  by  Chriil  and  his  Church,  and  to  uflier  in  the  huppy 
period  of  the  Millennium,  few  will  be  difpofcd  to  deny  :  but  the  qutii- 
ion  is,  hoiv  is  this  defirable  object  accomphflied  ?  The  Archdeacon 
liimfelf  allows,  b)'  the  triumph  of  the  Church  over  thofe  inflruments  of 
hell,  Ant'ichnf,  the  beaft,  and  the falfe prophet.  Now,  whether  I  be  right 
or  wrong  in  my  own  notions  of  jintichr'ijl,  what  is  this  but  a  triumph 
over  the  Roman  empire  and  the  apojlate  communion  inftparaUy  connected 
lu'ith  it  F  Accordingly  we  find,  that  the  ftventh  trumpet,  after  conduct- 
ing us  through  six  of  its  vials  all  of  which  are  poured  out  upon  God  s 
enemies,  magnificently  introduces  under  the  feventh  vial  the  judgment 
of  the  great  harl-jt,  the  downfall  of  Babylon,  and  the  complete  dellruc- 
tion  oi  the  beaji  along  with  the  falfe  prophet  and  his  confederated  kings  ;  in 
other  words,  the  overtbroiv  of  the  papal  Roman  empire  both  fecidar  and 
tem.poral.  How  then  is  the  homogeneity  of  the  trumpets  violated  by 
Mede's  expofition  ?  Under  the  four  jirfl,  the  w^efteni  empire  falls  ; 
under  the  two  next,  the  eaftern  empire  follows  the  fate  of  its  more  an- 
cient half  ;  under  the  lafl,  the  revived  beafl  or  papal  empire  is  utterly 
broken,  and  prepares  a  way  by  its  overthrow  for  the  millennian  reign  of 
the  Meffiah.  In  fhort,  as  matters  appear  to  me,  if  we  argue  back- 
wards from  the  fcventh  trumpet,  homogeneity,  inftead  of  forbidding,  7-e- 
quires  us  to  refer  all  tl^e  (ix  frfl  trumpets  to  different  attacks  upon  the 
Roman  empire,  x\\q  final  ruin  of  which  is  ufhered  in  by  the  feventh, 

2.  But  my  objection  to  the  Archdeacon's  arrangement  of  the  poca- 
lypfc,  on  which  a  great  part  of  his  fubfequent  interpretations  neceffarily 
depends,  is  infinitely  flronger  than  to  his  very  limited  fyfl cm  of  applying  the 
prophecies.  It  appears  to  nie  to  be  fo  extremely  arbitrary,  and  to  intro- 
duce fo  much  confuiion  into  the  three  fptenaries  ci  the  feals,  the  trumpets, 
and  the  vials,  that,  if  it  be  adopted,  I  fee  not  what  certainty  we  can 
ever  have,  that  a  clue  to  the  right  interpretation  of  the  Apocalypfe  is 
attainable. 

The  Archdeacon  fuppofes,  that  the  fix  frfl  feals  give  a  general  sketch 
of  the  contents  of  the  wliole  book,  and  that  they  extend  fj-om  the 
lime  of  our  Saviour's  afccnf.on  even  lO  the  great  day  of  the  Lord's  ven- 
geance, a  delcription  of  which  day  is  exhibited  under  the  fixtj:)  feal.\ 
Having  thus  arrived  at  the  confummation  of  all  things,  how  are  we  to 
difpofe  of  the  fventh  feal  ?  The  Archdeacon  conceives,  that  the  fame 
hiitory  of  the  Church  begins  anew  under  it  ;  that  the  connection,  which 
had  hitherto  united  the  feals,  is  broken  ;  that  the  fcventh  feal  flands  apart, 
containing  all  the  f even  trumpets  ;  and  that  the  renewed  hiflory,  compre- 
hended under  this  feventh  feal,  begins  "from  the  earliefl  times  of  Chrif- 
tianity,  or  to  fpcak  more  properly,  from  the  period  when  our  Lord  left 
the  world  in  perfon,  and  committed  tlie  Church  to  the  guidance  of  his 
apoftles.  From  this  time  the  fird  feal  takes  its  commencement  ;  from 
this  alfo,  the  iiril  trumpet.'  1      Hence  it  is  manifeit,  iince  the  feventh  feal 

*  P.  222.  t  P.  135,  174,  190.  ^  P.  197,  200. 


brings  us  back,  for  the  ptirpofe  of  introducing  the  /even  irunipds,  to 
the  veiy  fame  period  at  which  thsjirjl  feal  was  opened,  that  the  opening 
of  the  feventh  feal  fynchronizes,  in  the  iudgment  of  the  Archdeacon, 'with 
the  optning  of  the  jirfl  feal,  and  that  the  feventh  feal  lingly  comprehends 
exactly  the  fame  fpace  of  time  as  ail  the  fix  Jirfi  feah  conjointly. 

The  feventh  feal  t\\fa.  introduces  and  contains  within  '\\.{t\{  o2l  the  feven 
trumpets,  the  f.rfl  fx  of  which  conftitute  the  Archdeacon's  fecond  fe- 
ries  of  prophetic  hiilory,  as  the  Jirfl  fix  feah  had  conftituted  his  hrlt  fe- 
ries  :  aiid  thefe  two  feriefes  are  in  a  great  meafure,  though  not  altogether, 
commenfurate  ;  for,  though  they  both  ahke  begin  from  the  afcenfion  of 
Bur  Lord,  the  fix  feah  carry  us  to  the  day  of  judgment,  whereas  the  fix 
trumpets  only  carry  us  to  the  end  of  the  ]  260  years.* 

The  third  feries  is  of  courfe  that  of  the  vials,  which  the  Archde?.con 
arranges  under  the  feventh  trumpet,  as  he  had  previoufly  arranged  the 
feven  trumpets  under  \.\\e  feventh  feal.  But  where  is  the  place  of  the 
feventh  trumpet,  and  confequently  of  the Jirjl  vial?  The  Archdeacon 
does  not  bring  back  the  feventh  trumpet  and  the  jirfl  vial  to  the  afcenfion  of 
our  Lord,  as  he  had  previoufly  brought  back  the  feventh  feal  and  thejirjl 
trumpet,  but  only  to  the  beginning  oi  the  times  of  the  beajl  or  the  1260 
years  ;  through  the  whole  of  which  he  fuppofes  the  feventh  trumpet  and 
its  component  vials  to  extend.  He  conceives  however,  that  theftxth  trum- 
pet introduces  Mahommedifm  in  the  year  606,  and  reaches  to  the  dozvnfall 
of  Mahommedifm  at  the  clofe  of  the  \1QQ  years.  Confequently  the  be- 
ginning of  the  feventh  trumpet  exactly  fynchronizes  with  the  beginning  of 
the  Jixth  trumpet;  but  the  feventh  extends  beyond  thejixth,  and  reaches, 
like  the  fixth  fal  and  the  feventh  feal,  to  the  final  confummation  of  all 
things. -^ 

In  brief,  the  chronological  arrangement  of  the  Archdeacon's  three 
'  feriefes  is  as  follows.  The  firft  is  that  of  the  fix  feals  ;  and  it  reaches 
from  the  afcenfion  of  our  Lord  to  the  day  of  judgment.  The  fecond  is  that 
of  the  fix  trumpets,  introduced  by  and  comprehended  under  the  feventh 
feal  and  it  i-eaches  from  the  afcenfion  of  our  Lord  to  the  termination  of 
■  the  1260  years.  The  third  is  that  of  the  feven  vials,  introduced  by  and 
comprehended  under  the  j^venth  trumpet  ;  and  it  reaches  from  the  com- 
mencement of  the  times  of  the  beajl  or  the  \2G0  years  to  the  day  of  judgment. 

Now  it  is  impofiible  not  to  fee,  that  the  wiiole  of  this  arrangement  is 
purely  arbitrary,  and  confequently  that  the  various  interpretations  built 
upon  it  muft  in  a  great  meafure  be  arbitrary  likewife.  The  Apocalypfe 
muft  either  be  one  continued  prophecy,  like  each  of  thofe  delivered  by  Dan- 
iel ;  in  which  cafe  (with  the  fingle  exception,  as  all  commentators  are 
agreed,  of  the  epifode  contained  in  the  little  book)  ive  mull  admit  it, 
unlefs  we  be  willing  to  give  up  all  certainty  of  interpretation,  to  be 
ftrictly  chronological  :  or  it  muft  be  a  booh  containing  feveral  perfectly 
dflinct  and  detached  prophecies,  like  the  'whole  book  of  Daniel,  each  of 
which,  for  any  thing  that  appears  to  the  contraiy,  may  either  exactly 
fynchronize  or  not  exactly  fynchronize  with  its  fellows.  If  the  former 
opinion  be  juft,  the  Archdeacon's  fcheme  immediately  falls  to  the 
ground  ;   for  then  all  the  feven  trumpets    muft   ueceiTarily  be  pofterior  in 

*  P.  272,  274.  f  P.  p08,  399,  400,  401,  252— 273,  .27  1,  359,  360, 


276 

point  of  tiiiis  to  tiie  opeiinig  of  all  the  /even  fedls,  and  in  a  fiinilar  mzn- 
xier  z\\  the /even  Wa/j- to  the  founding  of  all  the /even  trumpets.  If  the 
latter  opinion  be  juft,  then  the  q-ieftion  is,  honv  are  we  to  divide  the  apo- 
calypfe  into  diftinct  prophecies  ?  The  only  fyflem,  that  to  my  own 
mind  at  lead  feems  at  all  plaufible,  would  be  to  fuppofe  that  each  of  the 
three  feptenar'ies  of  the  feals,  the  trumpets,  and  the  vials,  forms  a  diftinct 
prophecy.  If  we  divide  the  Apocalypfe  at  all,  we  muft  attend  to  the 
Apoftle's  own  arrangement  ;  and  homogeneity  plainly  forbids  us  to  fepa- 
rate  the  feals  from  the  feals,  the  trumpets  from  the  trumpets,  or  the  'vials 
from  the  vials.  So  again  :  as  homogeneity  requires  us  to  attend  to  the 
Apoftle's  own  arrangement  in  cafe  of  a  divifion,  it  equally  requires  us 
to  fuppofe  that  thefe  three  dijlinct  prophecies  exactly  coincide  with  each 
Other  in  point  of  chronology  :  othervvife,  what  commentator  ftiall  pre- 
tend, without  any  clue  to  guide  him,  to  determine  the  commencement 
of  each  ?  But  the  feals,  as  all  agree,  commence  either  from  tlie  afcen- 
■fion  of  our  Lord,  or  at  leaft  from  fome  era  in  the  Apoftle's  own  life- 
time :  therefore,  if  we  divide  the  Apocalypfe,  homogeneity  requires  us  to 
conclude  that  the  trumpets  and  the  vials  commence  likewife  from  the  fame 
era.  Accordingly  I  have  fomewhere  met  vnth.  a  commentator,  whofe 
work  I  have  not  at  prefent  by  me,  and  v,'hofe  name  I  carnot  recollect, 
that  proceeds  upon  this  very  principle.  He  divides  the  Apocalypfe  in- 
to the  three  prophecies  of  the  feals,  the  trumpets,  and  the  vials  ;  and  fup- 
pofes,  that  all  thefe  prophecies  run  exactly  parallel  with  each  other,  ex- 
tending alike  Irom  the  age  of  St.  John  to  the  end  of  the  ivorlil.  To  this 
fcheme,  when  examined  in  detail,  the  Archdeacon,  as  well  as  myfelf, 
will  probably  fee  infurmountable  objections.  Sir  Ifaac  Newton  adopts 
a  fomewhat  different  plan.  He  arranges  all  the  feven  trumpets  under  the 
feventh  feal,  and  fuppofes  them  chronologically  to  fucceed  the  fix  Jirfl 
feals  ;  thus  making  the  feals  and  the  trumpets  one  continued  prophecy  : 
but,  when  he  arrives  at  the  vials,  he  conceives  them  to  be  only  the  trum- 
pets repeated  ;  thus  making  the  vials  a  detached  prophecy  fynchronizing 
with  the  trumpets  *  Nothing  can  be  more  manifeft  in  this  plan  than  its 
arbitrary  violation  of  homogeneity.  What  warrant  can  we  have  for  af- 
ferting,  that  the  feals  and  the  trumpets  form  jojntly  a  continued  prophecy, 
but  that  the  vials  form  a  diftinct  feparate  prophecy  fynchronizing  with 
that  part  of  the  former  prophecy  which  is  compreherided  under  the 
trumpets  ?  But,  if  Sir  Ifaac  violate  homogeneity  in  his  arrangement  of 
the  Apocalypfe,  much  more  furely  does  the  Archdeacon  :  for  he  not 
only  feparates  the  feventh  feal  and  thefeventh  trumpet  from  their  refpective 
predeceflbrs,  but  divides  the  Apocalypfe  into  three  diftinct  prophecies, 
not  one  of  which  exactly  fynchronizes  with  another. 

A  violation  o{  homogeneity  however  is  not  the  only  objection  to  the 
Ai'chdeacon's  arrangement.  It  feems  to  me  to  involve  in  itfelf  more 
than  one  obvious  contradiction.  For  what  reason  is  the  fventh  feal  ftyl- 
ed  the  fventh  ?  The  moft  natural  anfwer  is,  becaufe  it  fucceeds  the  fix 
firfl  feals.  Now,  according  to  the  Archdeacon's  arrangement,  it  does 
tiot  fucceed  them  :  for  the  opening  of  it  exactly  fynchronizes  with  the 
ppiulvg  of  the  jirfl,  and  therefore  of  courfe  precedes  the  opening  of  the  vf'. 

*   Qbferv.  on  the  Appc,  p.  254,  293,  295. 


277 

Kiaining  JivCy  although  the  contents  oi  the  fe-venth  feal  itfclt  at-e  chvonolo^. 
ically  coinmenfurate  with  the  contents  of  all  the  other  fix.  But,  if  tht 
opening  of  the  feventh  feal  fynchronize  with  the  opening  of  the  jiijl  and 
therefore  precede  the  opening  of  the  remaining  jive,  with  what  propriety 
can  it  be  ityled  the  feventh  feal  ?  The  fame  remark  applies  to  his  ar- 
rangement of  the  trumpets.  The  frf  founding  of  the  feventh  trumpet,  which 
introduces  the  fven  vials,  exactly  fynchronizes  the Jirjl  founding  of  the 
Jtxth  ;  althouijh,  in  point  of  duration,  the  feventh  trumpet  extends  beyond 
thejixth.  Such,  according  to  the  Archdeacon,  being  the  cafe,  why 
ftiould  one  be  termed  the  feventh  rather  than  the  other.  The  three  lajf 
trumpets  are  moreover  ftyled  the  three  'woes.  How  then  can  the  feventh 
trumpet  be  the  third  ivoe,  if  it  in  a  great  meafure  fynchronize  with  the  second 
ivoe  ?  I  am  aware,  that  the  Archdeacon  does  not  confider  the  feventh 
trumpet  ■&&  being  itfelfxhe  third  nvoe,  but  only  as  introducing,  at  fome  pe- 
riod or  other  of  its  founding,  that  third  ivoe.*  Such  a  fuppofition  how- 
ever is  forbidden  by  homogeneity  ;  for,  ^w^cq  the  fifth  and  the  Jixth  trumpets 
manifeftly  introduce  at  their  very  earliell  blall  the  Jirjl  ?iV\dfecond  nuoesy 
we  feem  bound  to  conclude  that  the  feventh  trumpet  fhould  fimilarly  intro- 
duce at  its  earlieft  blaft  the  third  tuoe.  In  this  cafe  then  the  feccnd  and 
the  third  tuoes  exactly  commence  together  :  whence  we  are  compelled  to 
inquire,  both  why  they  fliould  be  Hyled  fecond  and  third,  and  what  event 
or  feries  of  events  is  intended  by  the  one  and  what  by  the  other  ?  Nor  is 
even  this  the  only  difficulty.  The  feventh  trumpet  is  reprefented  as  be- 
ginning to  found  after  the  expiration  of  thefecondiuoe,  and  as  introducing 
quickly  the  third  ivoe.  It  is  likewife  reprelented  as  beginning  to  found 
ofter  the  death  and  revival  of  the  ivitnejfes  ;  which  mull  take  place  ei- 
jther  (as  Mede  thinks)  at  the  end  of  the  VIQO  years,  or  (as  I  am  rather  in- 
clined to  beheve)  toiuard  the  end  of  them.  The  Archdeacon  himfelf 
thinks  it  moft  probable,  that  thefe  events  are  yet  to  come.f  Now,  in 
either  of  thefe  cafes,  how  can  the  feventh  trumpet  fucceed  the  death  and  re- 
mival  of  the  ivitnejfes,  if  it  begin  to  found  at  the  very  commencement  of  the 
1260 years  ;  that  is  to  fay  at  the  very  commencement  of  their  prophcfying  ? 

Hitherto  I  have  argued  on  the  fuppofition,  that  it  i«  alloivahle  to  divide 
the  Apocalypfe  into  diftinct  predictions  ;  and  have  only  attempted  to 
fnew,  that  it  is  next  to  impoflible  to  fix  upon  any  unobjectionable  method 
of  dividing  it.  I  fliall  now  proceed  to  maintain,  that  the  fyftem  of  dividing 
it  refts  upon  no  f olid  foundation.  If  we  carefully  read  the  Apocalypfe 
itfelf,  we  fliall  find  no  indications  of  any  fuch  divifion  as  that  which  forms 
the  very  bafis  of  the  Archdeacon's  fcheme  of  interpretation.  Sir  John 
only  fpecifies  a  fingle  divifion  of  his  fubject,  the  greater  book  and  the  little 
look.  This  divifion  therefore  mujt  be  allowed  ;  and  accordingly  has  been 
allowed  by  perhaps  every  commentator.  But  the  very  circumilance  of 
fuch  a  divifion  being  y^^c/^^^/ leads  us  almoft  necefiarily  to  conclude,  that 
no  other  divifion  was  intended  by  the  Apoftle  :  for,  if  it  had  been  intend- 
ed; why  was  it  not  fimilarly  fpecified  ?  The  Archdeacon  draws  an  analog- 
ical argument  from  the  difliinct  prophecies  of  Daniel,  in  favour  of  the 
iyftem  of  dividing  the  Apocalypfe.  After  treating  of  his  firll  feries, 
that  of  the  Jirjl  fix  feals  which  he  fuppofes  to  extend  from  the  afrenfwn  »f 

*  P.  409,  note.  t  P-  30'J,  SOS. 


Chr'ijt  to  the  day  oj  judgment,  he  addu,  '<  Such  appears  to  be  this  general 
outline  of  the  Chnftiaii  hiftory.  Many  important  intervals  yet  remain  to 
be  filk-d  up  under  the  feventh  feal,  which  will  be  found  to  contain  all 
the  prophecies  remaining  ;  and,  by  tracing  the  hillory  over  again,  to  fup- 
ply  many  events  which  were  only  touched  upon  before.  This  method 
of  divine  prediction,  prefenting  at  firft  a  general^'f/c/'  or  outline,  and  af- 
terwards a  m.ore  complete  and  finifhed  colouring  of  events,  is  not  pecu- 
liar to  this  prophetical  book.  It  is  the  jufl:  obfervation  of  Sir  Ifaac 
Is'ewton,  that  the  prophecies  of  Daniel  are  all  of  them  related  to  each  other  ; 
and  that  every  frjloiu'ing prophecy  adds  fomethhig  new  to  the  former.  We 
may  add  to  this  obfervation,  that  \\\q  fame  empires  in  Daniel  are  repre- 
fented  by  various  types  and  fymbols.  The  four  parts  of  the  image,  and 
the  four  beafts,  are  varied  fymbols  of  the  fame  empires.  The  bear  and 
the  he-goat,  in  different  vificns,  reprefent  the  fame  original  :  and  fo  do 
the  ram  and  the  leopard.  We  arc  not  therefore  to  be  furprifed,  when 
tve  find  the  fame  liiftory  of  the  Church  beginning  anew,  and  appearing 
under  other,  yet  correfponding,  types  ;  thus  filling  up  the  outlines  which 
had  been  traced  before."*  This  analogical  argument  appears  to  me  to 
be  inconclufive,  on  account  of  the  defectivenefs  of  parallelifm  between 
the  manfeftly  diflinct  prophecies  of  Daniel  and  the  only  fipprfed  diflinct 
prophecies  of  St.  John.  AVho  for  inftancecan  doubt  even  momentarily 
of  the  complete  diftinctnefs  of  the  two  vihons  of  the  image  and  the  four 
lea/Is,  although  they  plainly  treat  oi  the  fame  four  empires  ?  The  one  is 
leen  by  Nebuchadnezzar  ;  the  other,  by  Daniel  himfelf :  hence  the  line 
of  dillinction  is  fo  indelibly  drauTi  between  them,  that  we  cannot  for  a 
mo^rent  fuppofe  either  that  the  feet  of  the  image  belongs  to  the  prophecy 
oi  the  four  beafls,  or  that  the  frfl  beafl  belongs  to  the  prophecy  of  th"  im- 
age. Much  the  fame  remark  applies  to  the  three  chronological  vifions 
feen  all  hj  Daniel.  He  beheld  that  oi thefour  be:fls  in  the  firft  year  of 
Bellhazzar;  that  oi  the  ram  and  the  he-goat,  in  the  third  year  of  Bclihaz- 
zar,  "  after  that  which  appeared  unto  him  at  the  firft  ;"  and  that  of  the 
things  noted  in  the  Scripture  of  truth,  in  the  third  year  of  Cyrus. f  Thus 
it  is  plain,  that  we  can  neither  doubt  the  diflinBnefs  of  thcfe  vifions,  nor 
hefuate  'where  to  draw  the  line  of  dillinftion  between  them.  But  will 
any  one  fay,  that  the  fame  pofitive  directions  are  given  us  for  dividing 
the  Apocalypfe  into  diftinft  prophecies  ?  The  whole  is  evidently  reveal- 
ed to  St.  John  in  one  Jingle  virion,  on  one  Jingle  Lord's  day,  and  in  one  and 
f he  fame  ifle  of  Patmos.  j;  He  does  not  exhibit  himfelf,  like  Daniel,  as 
awaking  from  one  vifion,  and  afterwards  at  a  confiderablc  interval  of 
time  as  beholding  another  :  but  he  defcribes  himfelf  as  feeing  the  whole 
at  once,  although  the  different  objefts,  which  pafiedin  review  before  him, 
appeared  fometimes  to  be  ftationed  in  heaven,  fometimes  to  emerge  out 
of  the  fea,  fometimes  to  occupy  the  land,  and  fometimes  to  be  placed 
in  the  wildernefs.  Such  being  the  cafe,  how  can  we  fairly  argue 
from  the  diftindl  vifions  of  Daniel,  each  of  which  nearly  repeats  the  fam.e 
portion  of  hiftory,  that  the  Apocalypfe  ought  likewife  to  be  divided  in- 
to diftinfh  vifions  ?  And  what  commentator,  who  proceeds  upon  this  fyf- 
tem,  can  juftly  require  us  to  accept  his  particular  divifion   of  the  book  ; 

*  P.  197.  t  Dan.  vii.  l.-r-viii.  1.— x.  L  |  Rev-  i.  ^,  10. 


279 

a  divifion,  wliich  muil  be  akogethci-  arbitrary  becaufe  unfan6tloncd  by 
St.  John  i  If  the  Apocalyple  is  to  be  divided  (a  point  which  can  never 
be  proved,  and  which  indeed  the  whole  ftrutlure  of  the  book  feems  to 
me  to  difprove,)  how  can  the  Archdeacon  pronounce,  with  even  an  ap- 
pearance of  certanity,  that  he  has  difcovered  the  proper  mode  of  divid- 
ing it  ?  When  I  am  told,  that  the  firft.  divifion  comprehends  the  fix  Jirfi 
feals  ;  the  fecond  divifion,  thefixthfirjl  trumpets  ufhered  in  by  the  feventb 
feal ;  and  the  third  divifion,  the /even  vials  ufliered  in  by  thefeventh  t;  tun- 
pet  :  I  feel  myfelf  walking  on  very  unftable  ground  ;  for,  if  the  Apoca- 
lypfe  be  divided  at  all,  it  feems  unnatural  to  feparate  o-ae  feal  and  one 
trumpet  from  their  refpective  fellows.  But,  even  granting  that  the  Apoc- 
alypfe  ought  to  be  divided,  and  further  granting  that  the  Archdeacon's 
divifion  is  the  right  one  ;  it  ftill  does  not  follow,  that  his  inttrpretat'ioa 
ought  to  be  admitted.  If  the  fix  Jirft  feals  conftitute  the  firft  feries,  what 
right  have  we  to  fay  that  the  fecond  leries,  introduced  by  the  fevenlh feal, 
chi  onologically  commences  irom  the  felf fame  era  ns  the  firil  ?  If  St.  John 
hhnjel/ hzd  fpeciiied  the  Archdeacon's  divifion,  and  told  us  that  his  fec- 
ond vifion  commenced  v.-ith  thefe-venthjeal  as  the  fecond  hillorical  vifion 
recorded  by  Daniel  commences  with  the  iv'inged  Ihn  ;  fliould  we  on  thai 
account  have  any  right  to  conclude,  that  St.  John's  fecond  vifion  ought 
to  be  computed  from  the  fame  era  as  his  firll  ?  Would  it  not,  on  the 
contrary,  be  more  natural  to  fuppofe,  that,  fince  his  firft  vifion  was  that 
of  the  Jix  feals,  and  fince  his  fecond  vifion  was  introduced  by  the  feventh 
feal,  the  firll  chronologically  fitcceeded  the  fecond,  inftead  of  commencing 
and  running  parallel  with  it  ?  In  fail,  if  we  once  allow  the  propriety  of 
dividing  the  Apocalypfe  and  of  luppofing  that  the  firft  divifion  is  a 
flcetch  of  what  is  more  largely  prcdifted  under  the  fecond  divifion  as  the 
prophecy  of  the  image  in  Daniel  is  a  flcetch  of  the  prophecy  of  the  four 
beajls,  we  feem  to  preclude  the  poflibility  of  its  ever  being  fatisfactorily 
explained  by  an  uninfpircd  commentator  :  for,  in  this  cafe,  luho  is  to 
divide  it ;  and  where  fhall  we  find  any  two  expofitors,  that  write  upon 
this  plan,  who  will  agree  in  their  mode  of  divifion  ?  There  is,  for  obvious 
reafons,  wj  discrepancy  between  commentators  in  determini:;g  where  each 
of  Daniel's  four  prophecies  both  begins  and  ends  :  but  can  we  expeft  the 
fame  freedom  from  difcrepancy,  if  they  attempt  to  divide  the  Apocalypfe 
into  diiiinft  vifions  agreeably  to  the  analogy  of  Daniel's  prcdi£lion3  l* 

On  thefe  grounds  I  feel  myfelf  compelled  to  adhere  to  the  common 
opinion,  that  the  Apocalypfe,  v.'ith  the  already  mentioned  and  univerfally 
allowed  exception  of  the  little  book,  is  one  continued  vifion  :  and,  if  fucli 
an  opinion  be  well  founded,  fince  the  feptenary  of  the  feals  precedes  the  fep- 
tenary  of  the  trumpets,  and  the  feptenary  rf  the  trumpets  X.\\Q  feptenary  of  the 
vials,  each  oi  ihtiie  fpienaries  mutt,  as  Bp.  Newton  argues  chronologi- 
cally precede  the  other.  'Whether  we  fuppofe  the  lajl  feal  abfolutely  to 
comprehend  as  well  as  to  introduce  X\.\<i  feven  trumpets,  ?.nd  the  lafi  trumpet  in 
a  fimilar  manner  the  feven  vials,  is  of  no  great  confequence  io  far  as  the 
chronological  ZTTdLX\g<imQX\\.  of  the  Apocalypfe  is  concerned  ;  though  I  thiH'c 
there  is  reafon  for  admitting,  with  Bp.  Newton,  the  propriety  of  fuch  a 
fuppofition.  For  what  does  the  fevcnth  feal  contain,  unlefs  we  conceive 
it  to  contain  the  feven  trumpets  ;  and  vrhere  fliall  we  find  the  third  zuoe 
announced  under  the  fevcnth  trumpet,  if  we  do  not  find  it  under  the  J  even 


280 

viah,  thofe  fevcn  lajl  plagues  in  which  h  Jilled  up  the  wrath  of  God  :* 
But,  if  once  we  adopt  xh^  h^Xiei  oi  the  continuity  and  indiv'ifihUity  of  the 
Apacalypfe  (always  excepting  the  little  book),  it  is  plain,  that  by  far  the 
greater  part  of  the  Archdeacon's  interpretations  cannot  be  admitted,  be- 
caufe  they  are  founded  upon  Its  non  continuity  and  dlvifilil'ily . 

II.  I  fhall  now  proceed  to  offer  a  few  obfervations  on  some  particular 
cxpofitions  of  the  Archdeacon,  premifing  that  it  is  not  my  intention  to 
notice  every  little  matter  in  which  I   happen  to  diffent  from  him. 

1.  His  expofition  of  the  jirjl  fix  j'eals  I  of  courfe  cannot  admit;  bc- 
caufe,  extending  as  it  does  from  the  afcenjion  of  our  Lord  to  the  day  of  judg- 
ment, it  feems  to  me  to  militate  again  ft  the  whole  chronology  of  the  Apoc- 
alvpfe.  Yet  \\\s  principle  of  expounding  the  four  firjt  feals  is  fo  very  fat- 
isfaftorv,  that  I  cannot  but  think  it  highly  ceferving  of  ferious  attention  ; 
and,  if  I  miftake  not,  the  Archdeacon  himfelf  points  out  what  is  proba- 
bly the  right  interpretation  of  them.  Till  now  I  never  met  with  any 
thing  fatisfactory  on  the  fubjetl :  and  I  forbore  to  treat  of  it  in  my  own 
DifTertation,  both  on  that  account,  and  becaufe  it  has  no  connexion  with 
the  1260  days  to  the  confideration  of  which  I  was  peculiarly  directing  my 
attention.  Hence  I  merely  ftated  in  a  note,  that  I  could  not  believe 
with  Bp.  Newton  that  the  rider  on  the  ivhite  horfe  under  the  Jirjl  feal  could 
fymbolize  the  age  of  Vefpafian,  becaufe  the  homogeneity  of  the  Apocalypfe 
required  us  to  fuppofe  him  the  fame  as  the  rider  on  the  ivhite  horfe  de- 
fcribed  in  the  YQth  chapter.  But  that  rider  is  plainly  the  Mejfiah  :  whence 
I  inferred  with  Mede,  that  the  other  rider  muft  be  the  Mejjiah  likewife  ; 
and  that  his  going  forth  conquering  and  to  conquer  denoted  the  rapid  propa- 
gation of  the  Gojpel  in  the  pure  apoftolical  age.  Yet,  though  I  approved 
of  Mede's  interpretation  of  the  Jirjl  feal,  I  could  not  but  fee  his  inconiiil- 
cncy  in  referring  the  three  riders  in  the  three  fucceeding  feals  to  clajfes  of 
Roman  emperors  :  for  homogeneity,  as  the  Archdeacon  very  juftly  and  for- 
cibly argues,  requires  us  to  fuppofe  that  there  muft  be  fome  degree  of 
analogy,  fome  common  bond  of  connedlion,  between  all  the  four  riders 
and  all  the  four  horfes  under  the  four  jirjl  feals.  Bp.  Newton  avoids  the 
inconliilency  of  Mede,  by  interpreting  the  four  riders  to  denote  four  fuccef- 
five  clajfes  of  Roman  emperors  ;  but  then  he  equally,  though  in  a  different 
manner,  violates  homogeneity  by  teaching  us,  that  the  rider  on  the  nvhite 
horfe  in  the  1  Qth  chapter  is  Chrifl,  but  that  the  rider  on  the  ivhite  horfe  of 
the  firfl  feal  reprefents  the  age  of  Vefpafian.  I  entirely  agree  with  the 
Archdeacon,  that  the  \%th  chapter  muft  be  our  clue  for  interpreting  the 
four  Jirjl  jeals  ;  and  confequently,  fmce  the  Jirjl  feal  muft  relate  to /Z'^ 
fpiritual  viFiories  of  Chrijl  in  the  apojlolical  age,  the  three  other  feals  muft 
depict  three  fuccejjive  Jlates  of  the  Church.  Thefe  four  periods  the  Arch- 
deacon does  not  attempt /Tfcz/Wv  to  divide  from  each  other,  obferving 
both  truly  and  beautifully  that  the  progrefs  of  corruption  was  gradual, 
and  that  its  tints  melted  into  each  other  like  the  colours  of  the  rainbow. 
The  firft  period  is  that  of  primitive  Chr'Jlianity  :  the  fecond  is  that  of  in- 
ternal diffeiifions  leading  to  bloodJJied  :  the  third  is  that  of  fpiritual  bondage 
and  a  dearth  of  religious  Inozu/edge  :  and  the  fourth  is  that  of  perfecution. 
The  Archdeacon  thinks,  that  the  vengeful  character  of  the  fecond  feal  is 

*  Rev.  XV.  ] .     See  Bp.  Newton's  very  able  Differt,  on  Rev.  xv. 


S81 

to  be  feen  diftinftly  in  the  fourth  centuiy,  though  its  commencement 
may  be  fixed  from  the  end  of  the  fecond  century  :  that  the  abufes  of 
the  third feal  did  not  arrive  at  their  height  till  the  end  of  the  fourth  and 
the  beginning  of  the  fifth  centuries,  though  their  origin  may  be  traced 
fo  early  as  in  the  fecond  century  :  and  that  the  perfecution  oi  the  fourth, 
though  it  did  not  attain  its  utmoft  horror  till  the  twelfth  century,  began 
in  fome  meafure,  under  the  influence  of  the  jecond  Jcal,  with  the  reign  of 
Conftantine,  increafed  under  that  of  Theodofius,  and  feems  to  have  been 
in  pofitive  exiftence,  at  leafl:  fo  far  as  edifts  in  favour  of  perfecution  are 
concerned,  under  that  of  Honorius.  The  cry  of  the  martyrs,  defcribed 
in  the  fifth  feal,  he  fuppofes  to  be  the  cry  of  all  thofe  who  have  fuffered 
in  the  caufe  of  Chrill,  whether  by  the  inftrumentality  of  pagans  or  papifts. 
And  their  cry  is  at  length  heard,  and  produces  the  opening  oi  the  Jixth 
fealt  which  uihers  in  the  awful  day  of  general  retribution.  The  Arch- 
deacon argues,  and  I  think  with  much  appearance  of  reafon,  that  the  rider 
of  the  third  feal  does  not  carry  a  pair  of  balances  (as  we  read  in  our  com- 
mon tranflation),  but  a  yoke,  expreflive  of  that  Jpiritual  bondage,  which 
commenced  indeed  in  the  fecond  century,  but  was  fully  matured  by  the 
agents  of  Popery  :  and,  agreeably  to  this  expofition,  he  conceives  the 
dearth  to  be,  "  not  a  famine  of  bread  nor  a  thiril  of  water,  but  of  hear- 
ing the  words  of  the  Lord.  ' 

Let  us  now  fee,  whether  an  interpretation  of  the  feals  cannot  be  given, 
founded  upon  the  Archdeacon's  own  principle  of  homogeneity,  and  yet 
according  with  what  I  believe  to  be  the  right  chronological  arrano"ement 
of  the  Apocalypfe. 

I  am  no  I  aware,  that  we  are  necejfarily  bound  to  fuppofe  that  each 
apocalyptic  period  terminates  precifely  when  another  commences.  St. 
John  indeed  exprefsly  tells  us,  that  the  firfi  ivoe  ceafes  before  the  fecond 
begins,  and  that  the  fecond  ceafes  before  the  third  begins  :  whence  we 
rmijl  conclude,  that  the  three  periods  of  the  three  lafi  trumpets  are  not  only 
fuccejfive,  but  that  each  entirely  expires  before  the  commencement  of  an- 
other. Refpefting  the  duration  of  aii  the  other  periods  he  is  totally  filent  ; 
whence,  although  we  are  obliged  to  fuppofe  them  fuccefjive  in  point  of 
commencement,  it  is  by  no  means  equally  clear  that  we  are  obliged  to  look 
upon  one  as  terminated  when  another  begins.  As  far  as  indiiftion  goes, 
we  may  rather  infer  the  contrary  :  for  it  feems  needlefs  for  the  Apollle 
fo  carefully  to  inform  us,  that  each  ivoe  terminates  before  its  fucceffor  com- 
mences, if  fuch  were  likewife  the  cafe  with  every  other  apocalyptic  pe- 
riod. We  may  conclude  then,  that  the  influence  both  of  each  feal  and 
of  each  \\<\  probably  extends  mto  the  peculiar  period  of  irs  fucceflbr. 

On  thefe  grounds,  fuppofe  we  fay,  with  the  Archdeacon,  that  the  firfi 
feal  reprefents  the  age  of  primitive  chrifiianity  :  that  the  /ec  nd  reprefents 
that  of  fiery  %ea'  ivithoul  knoiuledge,  commencing  towards  "  the  end  of 
the  fecond  century  when  the  weftern  rulers  of  the  Church,  and  the  wife 
and  m.oderate  Ireneus,  were  feen  to  interpofe  and  exhort  the  furious  bifli- 
op  of  Rome  to  cultivate  Chriilian  peace,"  and  extending  fo  far  as  to  in- 
clude the  fchifm  of  the  Donatifts  and  the  bitter  fruits  of  the  Arian  con- 
troverfy  :  and  that  the  third  reprefents  that  of  piritual  bondage  an  i  relia- 
hus  dearth,  which  began  hke  its  predeceflbr  in  the  fecond  century,  but 
extends  through  all  the  woril  periods  of  popery.    '  Suppofe  we  further 

VOL.    II.  :jo 


982 

fay,  flightly  varying  from  die  Archdeacon,  that  the  fourth  exhibits  to  us 
what  may  emphatically  be  termed  the  age  of  perfecutwn,  not  indeed  of 
perfeciition  injlicled  by  the;  Church,  but  of  perfecution  fuffered  by  the 
Church.  This  may  be  conceived  to  commence  about  the  year  302  or 
304  with  the  dreadful  and  general  perfecution  of  Diocletian.  Other 
perfecutions  indeed  there  had  been  before  this  ;  but  none  either  of  equal 
violence  or  of  equal  extent,  none  under  which  the  Church  could  appear 
fo  emphatically  iubjeft  to  the  powers  of  death  and  hell,  none  under 
which  the  flaughter  was  fo  great  as  to  canfe  the  fymbolical  horfe  to  af- 
fume  a  hue  pale  and  livid-green  like  that  of  a  half  putrid  coi-pfe.*  The 
confequences  both  of  all  the  other  perfecutions,  and  we  may  fuppofe  pe- 
culiarly of  the  Diocletian  one,  are  exhibited  to  us  under  the  fifth  feal.  St. 
John  beholds  the  fouls  of  the  martyrs  under  the  altar,  and  hears  them 
crying  with  a  loud  voice  for  the  juft  vengeance  of  heaven  againft  their 
perfecutors.  Their  prayer  is  heard,  and  is  in  a  meafure  anfwered  under 
the fixth  feal ;  though  it  will  not  be  completely  anfwered  until  the  great 
day  of  retribution,  "  until  their  fellow-fervants  alfo,  and  their  brethren, 
that  fhould  be  killed  as  they  were,"  in  fubfequent  days  of  popifh  bigotry, 
"  fliould  be  fulfilled."  The  fixth  feal  is  opened  ;  and,  at  the  very  time 
when  the  affairs  of  the  Church  appear  at  the  loweft  ebb,  the  reign  of 
perfecuting  paganifm  is  fuddenly  brought  to  an  end,  and  chriftianity  is 
publicly  embraced  and  fupported  by  Conflantine.  This  great  revolution 
is  portrayed  indeed  under  images  borrowed  from  the  day  of  judgment  : 
but,  although  the  Archdeacon  applies  the  Jixth  feal  literally  to  the  day  of 
judgment  Itfelf  he  is  too  flcilful  a  biblical  critic  not  to  know  that  the  very 
images  which  it  exhibits  are  repeatedly  ufed  by  the  ancient  prophets  and 
even  by  our  Lord  himfelf  to  defcribe  the  fates  of  empires.  The  reafon 
feems  in  fome  meafure  at  leail  to  be  this  :  the  donunfall  of  any  Jalfe  re- 
ligion or  of  any  anlichriftian  empire  may  be  confidered  as  an  apt  type  of 
the  lafl  day,  when  retribution  will  be  fully  dealt  out  to  all  the  enemies 
of  God.f 

Thejirfl  feal  then  exhibits  the  Church  of  a  fpotlefs  white  colour,  and 
under  the  influence  of  a  heavenly  rider.  The  fecond  exhibits  her  of  a  red 
colour,  and  under  the  influence  of  a  fpirit  of  fiery  zeal  and  internal  dii- 
cord.  The  third  exhibits  her  as  changed  to  black,  and  beginning  to  be 
fubjedled  to  a  grievous  yoke  of  will-worfliip  and  to  experience  the  hor- 
ror of  a  fpiritual  famine.     The  fourth  exhibits  her  under  the  lail  and  moil 

*  "  There  were  other  perfecutions  before,  but  this  was  by  far  the  moft  confldera- 
ble,  the  tenth  and  lafl  general  perfecution,  which  was  begun  by  Diocletian,  and  con- 
tinued bv  others,  and  laflcJ  longer  and  extended  farther  and  was  fliarper  and  more 
bloody  than  any  or  ail  preceding  ;  and  tlierefore  this  was  particularly  preditflcd. 
Eufebius  and  LaiSlantius,  who  were  two  eye-witnefles,  have  written  large  accounts 
of  it.  Orofius  alTerts,  that  this  perfecution  was  longer  and  more  cruel  than  all  the 
paft  ;  for  it  raged  incelTantly  for  ten  years  by  burning  the  churches,  profcribing  the 
innocent,  and  flaying  the  martyrs.  Sulpicius  Severus  too  dcfcribes  it  as  the  mofl  bitter 
perfecution,  which  for  ten  years  together  deptipuiated  the  people  of  God  ;  at  which 
time  all  the  world  almolt  was  toined  with  the  facrcd  blood  of  the  martyrs,  and  was 
never  more  cxhaufted  by  anv  wars.  So  that  this  became  a  memorable  era  to  the 
Chriftians,  imder  tlie  name  of  the  era  of  Dloclitian,  or  as  it  is  otherwife  called  Z^^-  era 
of  fr.jrh:rj."     Bp.  Newton's  Dlflert.  on  Seal  V. 

-f  See  Made,  Bp.  Newton,  and  the  Archdeacon. 


283 

dreadful  perfecution  of  paganifm,  as  having  aflumed  a  livid  cadavevous 
hue,  as  beftridden  by  death,  and  puiTued  by  hell,  as  experiencing  the  ex- 
cifion  of  a  fourth  part  of  her  members  throughout  the  ivhole  Apocalyptic 
earth  or  the  Roman  empire,  and  we  may  add  as  falling  into  danger  of  the 
fecond  death  through  conftrained  apoftacy.  Thejiflh  exhibits  to  us  the 
fouls  of  the  martyrs  ;  and  repi'efents  their  blood,  like  that  ot  Abel,  as 
crying  to  God  for  vengeance  upon  their  perfecutors.  And  the  Jixth 
fymbolically  defcribes  the  overthrow  of  paganifm  and  the  ejlahlijloment  of 
Chr'ifliamty. 

The  feventh  feal  mtxaAwcQ^  the  feptenary  of  the  trumpets.  We  are  now 
arrived  at  the  days  of  Conilantine  :  but  St.  Paul  had  predifted,  that  a 
great  aprflacy  (hould  take  place,  and  that  a  power  which  he  llyles  the 
man  of  Jin  fhould  be  revealed,  after  he  that  letted,  or  the  Wtjiern  Roman  em' 
pire,  had  been  taken  out  of  the  way.  In  exaft  accordance  with  this 
prophecy  of  St.  Paul,  St.  John  proceeds  to  defcribe  under  the  four  Jirjl 
trumpets  the  removal  of  him  that  letted  ;  and  then,  at  the  founding  of  the 
fifth,  the  great  apojlacy  in  both  its  branches  commences  in  the  felf-fame 
year,  and  the  man  of  Jin  is  revealed. 

Such  is  the  interpretation,  which  I  give  of  this  part  of  the  Apoca- 
lypfe,  and  which  appears  to  me  to  accord  better  with  its  probable  chro- 
nological arrangement  than  that  brought  forward  by  the  Archdeacon. 

2.  After  my  general  objetlions  to  the  Archdeacon's  arrangement,  it 
may  be  almoft  fuperfluous  to  ftate,  that,  if  there  be  any  cogency  in  thofe 
objeftions,  his  application  of  the  fifth  trumpet  or  ihejirjl  tuoe  to  the  Gnos- 
tic.^ muft  be  deemed  inadmiffible.  Yet,  fince  he  has  objedled  to  the  com- 
mon expofition  of  thii  trumpet  as  relating  to  the  rife  of  Mohammedifm  and 
the  railages  of  the  Saracens,  it  may  be  expedient  to  fay  a  few  words  on 
the  fubjeft. 

The  Archdeacon  fuppofes,  that  the  fixfh  trumpet  or  the  fecond  luoe  does 
not  relate  exclufively  to  the  Turks,  as  moil  modern  commentators  have 
imagined,  but  to  all  the  profejjors  of  Mohammedifm,  Saracens  as  well  as 
Turks  ;  and  confequently  that  it  begins  to  found  in  the  year  606,  whence 
the  rife  of  Mohammedifm  is  moil  properly  dated.  Such  an  expofition  of 
the  two  Jrjl  woes  does  not  feem  to  me  to  accord  with  the  Archdea- 
con's own  very  excellent  principle  of  homogeneity.  In  addition  to  the 
fifth  and  Jxth  trumpets  being  alike  ilyled  'zuoes,  the  prophecies  contained 
under  each  of  them  bear  a  moil  flriking  refemblance  to  each  other,  in- 
fomuchthat  there  is  nothing  elfe  in  the  whole  Apocalypfethat  is  at  all  iun- 
ilar  either  to  the  one  or  to  the  other  of  them.  Yet,  belides  their  being 
reprefented  as  fucce/Jive  and  as  conftituting  two  dijiinct  woes,  there  is  a 
fufficient  degree  of  difference  between  them  to  fhew  plainly  that  they  can- 
not relate  precifely  to  the  fa/ne  people  and  the  fame  event.  Now,  inde- 
pendent of  the  Gnojlics  not  harmonizing  with  the  chronology  of  the 
•  Apocalypfe  (if  there  be  any  force  in  my  general  objeftion,)  I  cannot 
but  think  homogeneity  violated  by  referring  the  one  prophecy  to  the  Gnos- 
tics and  the  other  to  the  Mohammedans.  There  is  a  greater  difference  be- 
tween the  actions  of  the  GnojVics  and  the  actions  of  the  Mohammedans,  than 
the  obvious  fimilarity  of  the  two  preditlions  will  warrant ;  and  at  the 
fame  time  there  is  a  Icls  ilriking  refemblance  between  their  principles, 
ihan  the  predidlions  feem  to  require.       The  actions  of  the  Gnofiics  and  the 


284 

actions  of  the  Mohammedans  were  totally  unlike  ;  and  I  can  fee  no  reafon 
why  the  principles  of  the  Gnojtics  fhould  be  thought  to  refemble /Zio/^  of  the 
Mohammedans  more  than  the  principles  of  many  other  Chr'iflian  heretics. 
But,  in  the  cafe  of  the  Saracens  and  the  Turks,  we  exaclly  find  at  once 
the  required ftmilarity  and  the  required  dijfimilarify  :  and,  while  ho?nogeneity 
is  thus  preferved  inviolate,  the  chronology  of  the  Apocalypfe  (fuppofing 
it  to  be,  as  I  have  attempted  to  prove  it  to  be,  one  continued  vijion)  re- 
mains perfectly  unbroken.  With  fo  much  in  favour  of  Mede's  in- 
terpretation, I  cannot  feel  my  faith  in  it  fhaken  by  the  Archdeacon's  ob- 
jeftions.  I  fully  agree  with  him.  that  the  fallen  flar  of  the  fifth  trumpet 
cannot  mean  Mohammed :  but  thij  objeftion  is  removed  by  the  interpre- 
tation which  /  have  given  of  it.  His  three  next  objections  do  not  feem 
to  me  infurmouiitable.  The  'ymbolical  darknefs  of  the  fifth  trumpet  I  do 
not  conceive  to  mean  the  darknefs  oi  preceding  herefies  :  it  began  to  if- 
fue  out  of  the  bottomlefs  pit  or  hell,  when  the  falfe  prophet  retired  to 
the  cave  of  Hera  to  vent  his  impofture.  I  cannot  fee,  why  we  are  bound 
to  conclude  that  the  darknefs  mull  extend  to  the  whole  chriftian  world, 
merely  becaufe  it  is  faid  that  the  fun  and  the  air  were  darkened  ;  any 
more  than  we  ought  to  fuppofe  the  whole  natural  -woxX^.  darkened,  be- 
caufe a  great  fmoke  darkened  the  fun  and  the  air  to  the  inhabitants  of  a 
particular  country.  The  regions,  in  which  the  Waldenfes  moll  flourifh- 
ed,  certainly  did  efcape  in  a  remarkable  manner  the  incurfions  of  the  Sar- 
acens ;  and  I  think,  with  Bp.  Newton,  that  this  efcape  is  a  fufficient  ful- 
filment of  the  prophecy.  The  fifth  objection  is  invalid,  fuppofi-.g  the 
predidiion  to  relate  to  the  Saracens  in  particular,  and  not  to  the  Moham- 
medans in    rreneral.       The  Saracens    indeed   fubfifted  as  a   nation  more 

o 

than  150  years,  juft  as  the  Gnoftics  continued  as  a  feft  more  than 
150  years  ;  but  they  fubfifted  as  an  unfettled  nation,  anfwering  to  the 
eharafter  of  a  luoe  inflicted  by  locifls,  exadlly  150  years.  In  the  fixth  ob- 
jection there  is  fome  weight,  but  I  cannot  allow  it  to  counterbalance  the 
arguments  in  favour  of  Mede's  interpretation.  In  prophecies  avowedly 
defcriptivc  we  not  unfrequently  meet  with  a  mixture  of  the  literal  with 
the  fymbolical.  Thus,  in  the  final  battle  of  Armageddon,  if  w;-  com- 
pare the  defcription  of  it  with  other  parallel  prophecies,  Chrift  is  proba- 
bly a  literal  charafter,  the  kings  of  the  earth  and  their  armies  are  certain- 
ly literal  charadlers,  and  the  beaft  is  jull  as  certainly  a  fymbolical  charac- 
ter. Apply  this  remark  to  the  Archdeacon's  objedlion,  that  commenta- 
tors, in  order  to  refer  the  fifth  trumpet  to  the  Saracens,  fometimes  expound 
it  literally  and  fometimes  fymbolically  ;  and  perhaps  it  may  not  be 
thought  wholly  unanfwerable.*  So  again  :  whatever  might  have  been 
the  ilate  of  tl^e  Turh'flj  nation  before  it  is  mentioned  by  St.  John,  it  was 
certainly,  immediately  before  the  period  of  its  fuppofed  introduftion  in- 
to the  Apocalypfe,  divided  into  four  fultaniei  ;  and  thofe  four  fultanies 
were  feated  upon  the  Euphrates  :  whereas  the  rife  of  Mohammedifm  from 
the  cave  of  Hera  in  Arabia  can  by  no  ingenuity  be  transferred  to  the 
Euphrates.  It  is  not  fufficient  to  fay,  that  the  Saracens  were  at  zfub- 
fequent  period  feated  upon  the  Euphrates  :  a  prophecy  relating  to  the  rife 
of  Mohamcdifm,  muil  commence  from  Arabia. f  With  regard  to  the  pro- 
priety of  confidering  the  Saracens  and  the  Turks  as  nvoes,  the  Archdeacon 
^anijct  objeft  to  it  even  according  to  his  own  definition  of  a  <woe  :X  for 

p.  249,  250,  25\.  f  P.  271.  |  Pref.  p.  xvii. 


285 

furely  the  rapid  propagation  of  Mohammedifm  hy  the  Saracens ^  and  its  ejlah- 
lijbment  by  the  Tiirls,  may  well  be  confidered  as  tivo  h^avy  iu  es  to  the  Chris- 
tian Church  ;  efpecially  if  we  take  into  tlie  account  the  contemporary  rife 
and  eJlablifJoment  of  the  iveflern  apojlacy.  On  the  lame  ground,  neither  can 
he  objeft  to  the  interpretation  which  /  have  given  of  the  third  luoe,  as 
ufhering  in  the  open  de-ve/opement  of  French  athei/m  and  anarchy.  But  I 
much  doubt  whether  his  idea  of  the  three  /Ipoca^yptic  ivoes  be  perfeftly 
accurate.  They  are  ivoes  to  "  the  inhabiters  of  the  earth."*  But 
the  inhabiters  of  the  earth  are  not  the  pure  churchy  but  the  idolatrous  inhabit- 
ants of  the  Roman  empire.  Accordingly,  all  the  ivces,  fuppofing  th.- f ev- 
en vials  to  conftitute  jointly  the  third  ivoe,  are  reprefented  as  punifhments 
inflifted  both  upon  the  eajlern  and  ivejlern  Romans.f  The  fenfe,  which, 
the  Archdeacon  affixes  to  the  yjpocalyptic  earth,  or  (as  he  fometimes 
tranflates  the  original  word)  land,  is  irreconcileable  with  many  paflages 
wherein  that  fymbol  is  introduced  :  J  therefore  I  confider  it  as  untena- 
ble. And  I  think  his  definition  of  the  Apocalyptic  fea  to  be  equally  un- 
tenable, and  for  the  fame  reafon.^ 

3.  The  Archdeacon  fuppofes  the  ivoman  defcribed  in  the  12th  chapter 
to  denote  the  Church,  not  merely  while  chriftian,  but  from  the  very  ear- 
lieft  ages  ;  and  he  conceives  the  man-child  to  be  the  literal  Mejfiah,  with 
whom  the  Church  had  been  travailing  in  earneft  expeftation  through  a 
long  feries  of  years.  The  ivar  in  heaven  he  likev>'ife  underllands  literally, 
and  believes  it  to  relate  to  the  expuljion  of  Satan  and  his  apojlate  angels. 
Not  indeed  that  he  fuppofes  a  bat  tie  to  have  been  actually  fought  ;  but  he 
refers  this  part  of  the  Apocalypfc  to  the  fame  conflict  as  that  alluded  to 
in  Jude  6.  and  2  Pet.  ii.  4. 

It  is  obvious,  that  this  fcheme  is  liable  to  much  the  fame  ob]cdtions  as 
thofe  which  I  have  already  adduced  against  the  fchcmes  of  Mede  and 
Bp.  Newton.  The  whole  of  the  little  book,  as  itfelf  repeatedly  teilifies, 
treats  of  the  1160  years.  This  is  fo  manifeft,  that  all  commentators, 
who  depart  from  fuch  an  opinion,  are  obliged  to  have  recourfe  to  the  moft 
arbitrary  gloffes  upon  the  text.  Bp.  Newton  accordingly  alFerts,  that 
the  flight  of  the  ivoman  into  the  ivildernefs  mentioned  in  the  Qth  verfe  is  in- 
troduced proleptic'ally,  becaufe  it  was  pofterior  in  point  of  time  to  the 
events  which  he  fuppofes  to  be  intended  by  the  ivar  in  heaven.  The 
Archdeacon,  in  a  fomevvhat  fimilar  manner,  would  throw  the  ivhole  of  thai 
ivar  into  a  parenthejts,  in  order  that  he  may  be  at  liberty  to  apply  it  to 
the  expuljion  of  the  devil  and  his  angels  from  heaven.  After  carefully  read- 
ing however  all  that  the  Bishop  and  the  Archdeacon  have  faid  in  favour 
of  their  refpeftive  fchemes,  and  after  attentively  confidering  the  ftrufture 
of  the  little  book,  I  cannot  think  that  either  the  prolepfs  or  the  parenthe- 
fis  are  at  all  warranted  bv  the  general  tenor  of  the  prophecy  ;  and  to 
myfelf  it  certainly  appears  a  complete  breach  of  chronological  precifion 
to  fuppofe,  that  iu  the  very  midll  of  an  infulated  prediction  (fevered  by 
the  Apollle  himfelf  from  his  larger  prediftion),  which  profelfes  to  treat 
of  the  YIQO  years,  we  fliould  be  fuddenly  carried  back  either  to  the  age 
of  primitive  chriftianity,  tlie  age   of  Conftantine,  or   a  period  preceding 

*  Rev.viii.  13.      f  Rev.ix.'I,20,2i.xi.  15,  18.  xvi.  2,  5,  6,  9,  10,12,  13,14,17,19. 
\  Compare  the  Archdeacon,  p.  210,  211.  with  Rev.  xiJi.  8,  12,  14,  §  P.  211. 


285 

the  very  creation  of  the  world.  Nor  is  this  the  only  objedtion  to  the 
Archdeacon's  expofition  :  it  contains  likewife  a  violation  of  homogeneity, 
Tlie  luoman  is  faid  to  be  in  the  Jame  heaven  as  the  dragon.  But  by  that 
heaven  the  Archdeacon  underitands  the  literal  heaven,  out  of  which  the 
apoilate  angels  were  caft.  The  ivoman  therefore  muft  have  been  in  the 
literal  heaven.  But  when  was  "  the  Church  from  the  time  of  Adam"* 
down  to  the  prefent  time,  whether  patriarchal,  Levitical,  or  Chriftian,  in 
the  literal  heaven  from  which  the  devil  was  expelled  ? 

4.  I  have  already  mentioned  the  agreement  between  the  Archdeacon 
and  myfclf,  that  the  frjl  apocalyptic  heaft  is  the  Roman  empire,  and  the  fame 
as  DanieVs  fourth  heajl ;  not,  as  fome  have  fuppofed,  the  Papacy,  and  the 
fame  as  the  little  horn  of  Daniel's  hcajl.  The  Archdeacon  indeed  may 
perhaps  be  thought  by  fome  needlefsly  to  refine  on  the  fubjecl;  :-|-  yet  his 
opinion  ol  this  heajl  m  fuhjlantially  the  fame  as  my  own.  To  his  remarks 
howc%'er  on  the  feventh  and  eighth  forms  of  Roman  government  I  can  by 
no  means  fubfcribe.  He  conceives  the  feventh  to  be  the  Exarchate  of  Ra- 
venna, and  the  eighth  (unlefs  I  altogether  millake  his  mieaning)  to  be  a 
c'.mponnd  of  all  the  Popijlj  fove  reigns,  a  college  (if  I  may  fo  fpcak)  of  all 
the  ten  horns. :j;  As  I  have  in  the  body  of  my  work  given  my  reafons 
very  abundantly  why  I  cannot  allow  the  Exarchate  of  Ravenna  to  be 
the  fcventh  head,  I  fiiall  coniine  myfelf  to  fome  obfcrvations  on  the  Arch- 
deacon's opinion  of  the  eighth.  The  firft  objeftion  to  it  is  obvioufly,  that 
it  confounds  the  members  of  the  beajl,  making  his  ten  horns  the  fame  as  his 
lafl  head.  The  next  is,  that  this  apparently  diflincl  eighth  head  is  to  be  one 
of  the  preceding  feven  ;  fo  that  the  heajl  has  really  only  feven,  though  he 
mzj  feem  upon  a  fuperficial  view  of  his  hillory  to  have  eight.  With 
which  of  his  feven  predeceflbrs  can  this  fuppofed  collegiate  regal  head  be 
identified  ?  The  laft  is,  that  the  eighth  bead  of  the  heafl  is  rcprefenled  as 
fomething  perfeftly  diftinft  from  the  kings  feated  within  his  empire,  al- 
though it  manifeftly  influences  their  atlions.  We  read,  that  the  beajl  is  to 
go  into  perdition  while  fubfifting  under  his  eighth  form  of  government. 
Now,  if  we  turn  to  the  pafl'age  where  his  perdition  is  defcribed,  we  find 
iiim  heading  a  confederacy  of  thofe  very  kings  whom  the  Archdeacon 
conceives  jointly  to  conftitute  his  lafl  head.  § 

!?.  Though  I  quite  agree  with  the  Archdeacon,  that  the  little  horn  of 
DanieVs  fourth  heajl,  when  generally  confidered,  is  the  fame  as  the  fecond 
apocalyptic  heafl  or  the  falfe  prophet  ;  yet,  if  we  d^ticen^  \.o  particulars,  I 
am  unaUe  to  affent  to  his  expofition  of  thefe  kindred  fymbols.  He 
thinks,  that  the  fecond  apocalyptic  heafl  reprefents  the  luhole  of  the  great 
apoflacv  ;  and  that  his  tivo  horns  denote,  one  the  Papacy,  and  the  other 
Mohammcdifm.  ||  It  is  fomewhat  remarkable,  that  I  had  once  in  the 
courfc  of  my  fludy  of  the  Revelation  fallen  upon  the  very  fame  opinion  ; 
but  it  is  liable  to  whal  appears  to  myfelf  infuperable  objeftions. — Of  the 
fecond  apocalyptic  heafl  ilrict  unity  of  aftion  is  predicated  :  but  it  is  nat- 
ural to  fuppofe,  that,  if  his  iiuo  horns  had  been  defigned  to  reprefent  tnvo 
fuch  diflincl poivers  as  Popery  and  Mohammedifm,  a  feparate  fet  of  adlions 
would  have  been  afcribcd  to  each  ;  as  there  are,  for  inftance,  to  the  two 

P.  ?.\-.  t  Stc  p.  \,2d—S?,r>,A2\, — 42J,  4S6.  i  P.  431,  1'^.:. 

v5  "Rrx.  xvi.  1:!,  1-!.  xi\-.  Ip.  I)  P.  r.5fi— 5574. 


28? 

littk  horns  defcribed  by  Daniel,  and  (what  is  perhaps  more  ilrictly  ana- 
logical) to  ths  fe'usral  horns  and  the  little  horn  of  Daniel'sy^wr//^  heajl. — 
The  fecond  apocalyptic  heajl  makes  his  appearance  in  the  little  book,  which 
(according  to  the  Archdeacon  himfelf*)  peculiarly  relates  to  "  another 
Antichriftian  ufurpation"  as  contradiftinguifhed  from  the  already  pre- 
d'lBed  Mohammedan  ufurpation,  and  of  which  *'  the  weftern  nations  of 
the  Gentiles  are  to  be  the  object ;"  furely  then,  if  we  would  be  confiftent 
in  our  expolitions,  we  cannot  expeft  to  find  in  the  little  book  any  men- 
tion of  Mohammed'ifm, — The  fecond  apocalyptic  heajt  is  reprefented  as  be- 
ing one  falfe  prophet,  or  (what  amounts  to  the  fame  thing)  one  body  of 
perjonal  falfe  prophets  :  now,  when  we  confider  the  nature  of  what  Mede 
properly  terms  the  counter  elementsf  of  the  Apocalypfe,  and  when  we  find 
that  the  true  prophets  of  God  are  faid  to  be  tivo  in  number,  we  can 
fcarcely  conceive  that  the  counter-element  to  the  tzvo  true  prophets 
would  have  been  one  falfe  prophet,  when  fo  fair  an  opportunity  was  pre- 
fented  of  producing  a  perfect  counter-element  by  exhibiting  t-zvo  falfe 
prophets,  namely  Popery  and  Mohammedlfm  :  one  falfe  prophet  however 
is  alone  mentioned  ;  whence  it  feems  moll  natural  to  conclude  that  one 
"power  is  alone  intended. — The  power,  which  the  fecond,  heajl  exercifes 
under  the  protection  oithefrjl,  is  among  other  particulars  (as  the  Arch- 
deacon himfelf  allowsi )  idolatrous  ;  and,  if  the  expofition  which  Dr. 
Zouch  and  myfelf  give  of  the  image  fet  up  by  him  be  juft,  it  is  idolatroujly 
perfecuting  :  the  difciples  of  Mohammed  have  ever  warmly  protelled 
againft  idolatry,  and  have  repeatedly  charged  the  Papifts  with  being 
guilty  of  it. — The  fecond  heajl  is  reprefented  as  veiy  clofely  connefied 
with  the  Jirjl,  and  as  exercifing  his  authority  under  his  immediate  fanc- 
tion  :  this  perfeftly  accords  with  Popery,  but  by  no  means  fo  with  Mo- 
hammedifm,  which  has  ever  been  in  direct  oppofition  to  the  papal  Roman 
empire,  and  againft  which  repeated  crufades  have  been  undertaken. — The 
fecond  heajl  is  allowed  by  the  Archdeacon  to  be  the  fame  as  the  little  horn 
of  Daniel's  fourth  heajl ;  therefore  the  little  horn  muft,  according  to  his 
fcheme,  typify  at  once  both  Popery  and  Mohammedifn  :§  but 'what  is 
there  in  the  character  of  this  little  horn,  which  can  reaionably  induce  us 
to  fuppofe  that  it  denotes  ttuo  entirely  dijlinct  religious  ponvers  ?  All  thi 
other  horns  of  all  the  other  heajis  reprefent  each  a  Jingle  potuer  :  homoge- 
Ticity  therefore  forbids  us  to  fuppofe  that  it  alone  reprelents  ttuo.  Its 
actions  equally  forbid  fuch  a  fuppofition.  Like  thofe  of  the  fecond  apoc- 
alyptic heajl,  they  are  ftriftly  the  actions  of  one.  The  little  horn,  for  in- 
ftancc,  fubverts  three  of  the  other  horns.  Popery  and  Mohammedifm  can- 
not hcth  fubvert  the  fclf-fame  three  horns  :  and,  if  they  had  each  fubverted 
three,  then  their  common  fymbol  the  little  horn  would  have  fub verted j,^.v. 
But  Mohammedifm  never  fubverted  any  three,  and  the  Tittle  horn  does 
fubvert  three  :  therefoi-e  Mohammedifn  can  have  no  connection  with  the 
little  horn.  The  truth  of  thefe  obfervations  will  yet  further  appear,  if 
we  confider  the  charaAer  of  the  niyjlic  apocalyptic  harlot.  This  cliara^clei- 
is  fo  flrongly  drawn,  that  the  Archdeacon  cannot  but  confine  it  to  the 
papal  apojlacy.  Hence,  in  order  to  preferve  confiilency,  he  is  obliged  t» 
fay,  ihat  the  harlot  is  not  abfolutely  the  fame  as  the  fecond  hecjl  ox  the  falft^ 

*  P.  277,273,279.     +  A-.r:rr,x^-a  Sctr.'M:::?.     i  P.  550,  ,"..51.     ?  P.  350— ",.;57. 


2S8 

prophet,  but  only  as  one  of  his  two  horns.*  Yet,  to  any  unprejudicecl 
reader  the  harlot  muft  appear  to  perform  exactly  the  fame  part  to 
the  ten-harned  heajl  dejcr'ibed  in  the  \1th  chapter,  that  the  fecond  beafl 
does  to  the  ten-horned  heajl  in  the  \2)th  chapter,  and  the  little  horn  to 
the  ten -horned  beajl  in  the  "(th  chapter  of  Daniel.  The  Archdeacon  indeed 
himfelf  both  draws  out  in  three  columns  the  parallelifm  of  the  little  horn, 
thi  fecond  apocalyptic  beafl,  and  the  man  of  fin  ;  and  elfevvhere  parallelizes 
in  two  columns  the  falfe  prophet  or  the  fecond  apocalyptic  beafl  and  the  bar- 
lot.\  What  then  can  we  conclude,  but  that  all  three  denote  one  and  the 
fame  power,  whatever  that  power  may  be  ;  and  confequently,  fince  the 
harlot  a, id  the  man  of  fin  are  excluhvely  the  papal  power,  that  both  the  oth- 
ers muft  be  exclulively  the  papal  power  likewife  ?:j:  Before  this  fubjeft  is 
altogether  difmiffed,  1  muft  remark,  that  the  Archdeacon  has  adduced 
fome  very  forcible  arguments  to  prove  that  the  fecond  apocalyptic  beafl  csni- 
not  denote,  as  it  hath  recently  been  conjeAured,  the  infidel  democratic 
power  of  France. §  He  feems  to  me  likewife  to  defcribe  moft  juftly  the 
motives  of  the  kings  in  ftripping  the  harht.  "  This  hoftility  between  the 
kings  and  the  harlot,"  fays  he,  "  does  not  feem  to  proceed  from  any  vir- 
tue in  them,  but  from  worldly  avarice  and  ambition.  They  covet  hers- 
power  and  her  riches  ;  and  this  change  in  their  conduct;  feems  to  take 
place  from  the  time  when  they  awake  from  their  intoxication.  They, 
who  had  been  the  means  of  exalting  the  harlot,  become  the  inftruments 
of  her  fall  "II 

The  Archdeacon,  I  am  perfuaded,  will  not  be  offended  at  the  free- 
dom of  thefe  remarks.  If  we  be  rapidly  approaching  to  the  time  of  the 
end,  as  there  is  abundant  reafon  to  believe  that  we  are,  we  certainly 
ought  to  redouble  our  caution  in  admitting  any  expofition  of  prophecy 
which  will  not  ftand  the  teft  of  the  ftrifteft  examination.  It  is  by  the 
running  to  and  fro  of  many  that  knoivledge  is  increafed  :  and  every  perfon, 
that  attempts  to  unfold  the  facred  oracles  of  God,  ought  not  only  to  ex- 
pect but  to  cLfrre,  that  his  writings  fliould  be  even  feverely  fcrutinized. 
He  may  indeed  fairly  demand,  that  he  fliould  be  treated  with  civility  : 
but,  while  he  deprecates  the  ofFeniive  illiberality  of  farcafm  and  the  dif- 
gufting  coarfenefs  of  vulgar  fcurrility,  by  fome  efteemed  the  very  acme 
of  wit  and  perfeftion  of  criticifm,  he  ought  never  to  flirink  from  the 
manly  fincerity  of  calm  and  difpaflionate  inveftigation.  I  cannot  con- 
clude with  greater  propriety  than  in  the  words  of  the  Archdeacon  him- 
felf. "  Truth,  in  this  important  refearch,  is,  I  hope,  as  it  ought  to  be, 
my  principal  concern  :  and  I  {hall  rejoice  to  fee  thefe  facred  prophecies 
truly  interpreted,  though  the  corrcftion  of  my  miftakcs  (hould  lay  the 
foundation  of  fo  delirable  a  fuperftrutture."«[[ 

*  P.  436,  437.  t  P  354,  423.  \  See  indeed  the  Archdeacon  him- 

felf, p.  350,  43-1.  5  P.  3G3.  II   P.  433.  «|   Pref.  p.  xx. 


